#Supply Only Floors Leicester

[omgkalyppso]

The Unforgotten King

A Dimimari drabble that fits into Fae's post canon.

The icy winds pouring down from the frigid Fraldarian mountains were starting to upset the horses with how cold they were. Many roads this far north were impassable for carriages; even the main roads, which in many cases were the only option, were made to constrict the approach of enemies and allies alike, venturing to and from the historically chaotic northern border, and the capital to the south.

They had come first by boat and then followed the trade routes carved out by the fishing villages on the eastern coast.

Marianne held her scarf against the chill, wincing and shaking her head about Dimitri, with his scarf pulled down around his smile as he spoke about his homeland. He'd long ago let his hat fall back around his shoulders, secured by a cord about his neck, and his bound hair was a tangle as a result of the gales. He was going home, and it was as clear in his person as it was in his temperament. His nose and cheeks were pink and frozen, and his beard was gelid with frost, but the Faerghan climate suited him. Marianne even suspected that the temperature might have been harsh on another man's injuries, but Dimitri was only livelier by the mile.

Some might have said he was as a boy gone to the fair, but she knew him too well now, and could see the flit of his eye as he watched the forests. He was fighting his hauntings and his memories of war, and trusting her and their guard with his insecurities. A vast improvement when compared to the dreary state of his heart and mind during the year or two past.

Marianne had worried that despite Dimitri's growth, that returning to Faerghus was going to upset him and his friends, when he and they found him without the crown, without the armour and attire one expected of a king, and with the continued trauma of never having achieved his vengeance. She was overjoyed that it was nothing so simple.

.

"Do you see how the trees have turned from green to blue here?" Dimitri asked, gesturing to the evergreens, brightening as Marianne nodded. "They say the Goddess took pity on the verdant evergreens of Fodlan after her first ice storm, and blessed all the trees north of Conand River with a piece of her home on the Blue Sea Star, that they might from then on weather the storms."

Marianne held her scarf from her face as she replied, "They're quite beautiful. I hear they house wildlife too? I would have expected we'd only find migratory birds out in these temperatures."

"It would be wonderful to hear an owl at night," Dimitri mused. "You are right, though. There are a variety of creatures in the underbrush."

"As stubborn as any Faerghan," Marianne joked. "Although I suspect, in regards to your tale of a blessing, that similar accounts are told of the seas themselves, rather than only of Faerghan forests. Anything blue."

Dimitri had blushed and laughed awkwardly at Marianne's initial declaration, knowing that it was true that sailors in Faerghus were revered and worried perhaps even that he had misremembered his own short yarn, but then he'd smiled and contributed softly, "It is a color dear to my heart."

"Because of your house banner?" Marianne asked as if to confirm, offering Dimitri no space to argue. "Perhaps a square or kerchief could be sewn in one of your pillows? Or some other secret space? I am sorry that you're only clad as one of my guards."

Dimitri shook his head. "An honor. I am glad to ride beside you, Mari— my lady, and ... maybe with the right materials, I could try to award myself with the gift you suggest. It would be a small and challenging project for a man of my extremely limited skill."

.

Upon their arrival at the manor in Fraldarius, they were escorted to the entrance hall, where Dimitri embarrassed Rodrigue with a bow and an embrace.

"Dimitri," Rodrigue said softly, as a reprimand and a prayer, testing the name, free of title and ornamentation. "It is good to see you again. If Felix had not seen you himself, I would have assumed a ruse or extortion." He pulled away, a hand still on his once and fallen king's shoulder. "To bury you, would be as burying another son—"

"Rodrigue—" Dimitri said, meaning to interrupt.

"Humor me," he begged. "Hear me. Not only am I proud to host you, in secret, in public, but should you ever need a home in Faerghus, we will never turn you away." Rodrigue swept a tear from his eyes, "Hm. I think you'll find my lack of decorum is your fault, for hugging me first—"

"My sincerest—"

Rodrigue chuckled. "Don't apologize. Just know that I intended to be more reserved, for the sake of Lady Marianne, if not for that of my son."

"Where is Felix?" asked Dimitri, as a door to the entrance hall opened at the top of a far stair, and Felix, Annette, Sylvain and Ingrid rushed out of it.

Although Felix had been to visit him in Margrave Edmund's territory three times, Dimitri could not suppress his joy at his friend's reveal, and after Rodrigue's admission, he could either hope that Felix too thought of him more fondly, or else worry that he needed to apologize to the younger Fraldarius for what he'd inspired in his father. "Felix!"

Dimitri spared a glance for Marianne, who waved him off delicately so that he could rush to his friends at the base of the stair. She shared a far more respectable greeting with Duke Fraldarius.

.

"Wait—!" Felix started to object, but too late or with too little conviction to keep Dimitri from fitting his arms around him and Ingrid and squeezing them to his chest.

Ingrid laughed happily, and Felix scoffed when Sylvain was greeted with only a joined hand and a clap on the shoulder, though Annette then jumped into Dimitri's arms.

"I half worried it was an exaggeration," Dimitri said softly. "That you all could make it."

"Mercedes and Dedue's boat is expected tomorrow," Sylvain said to assure him.

"Ashe won't be here for a week," Annette lamented as her feet hit the floor, "but I hear that will be long enough to see you?"

"I won't leave before," Dimitri promised. "It would break my heart if his journey from Gaspard was fruitless."

"Did you know that he needed to wait for Linhardt to take up residence in Gaspard?" asked Ingrid. "To deter the Adrestians from overreaching — even now."

"As well as general rebellion," Felix supplied. "Things aren't exactly settled that far west."

"You're helping him?" Dimitri confirmed, and a part of his heart stirred to be able to have this conversation with Felix in person, rather than over a period of days by letter.

"Fhirdiad's helping him," Felix said and then frowned when the others around Dimitri looked at him more directly, and corrected himself. "Yes, I'm helping him."

Fhirdiad had been Felix's home and his charge these past few years. He had taken up the title of Archduke and wielded his role with purpose. He always intended to return to Fraldarius, imagining that there would be an opportunity to suggest another lord be honoured with the capital region, but some days he worried he had sealed his fate. His father, and Sylvain, were less subtle in their matching inquiries about his return, but it seemed all others were slowly becoming accustomed to him sitting in that place of kings in the more temperate south.

"I appreciate it," Dimitri said carefully.

"There'll be plenty of time to worry about the shadow of dissent tomorrow," Sylvain said, looking to change the subject. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh," Dimitri said in surprise, looking down at himself, dressed as a Leicester soldier in wool and armour.

"Are you warm enough?" asked Annette, turning over a side of his cloak to assess its thickness.

Dimitri chuckled. "I'm plenty warm, I—"

"How many layers is that?" Ingrid inquired critically.

"Do the rest of Marianne's escorts have hats like this?" asked Sylvain, propping Dimitri's upon his golden hair.

"Four. No, most have wool lined leather caps."

"Four? Like this? That's not enough," Ingrid worried.

"We'll warm him with drink and games," Sylvain suggested. "Maybe dancing if Annette feels like singing?"

Annette squeaked in protest, but Felix spoke first.

"You're being ridiculous. Dimitri's had a long ride—"

Dimitri's lips tightened to hear Felix call him by name, and he spoke gently, worried he might break this simple spell of friendship when he spoke in favour of Sylvain's suggestions, "I think it would be nice to drink with everyone, but I might like to bathe first. I fear as soon as I loosen my collar my sweat will thaw from where it's frozen upon me."

Three exaggerated tongues of disgust extended in sympathy.

"Do you want to stay inside?" asked Felix. "Wood fires can heat baths in the lower levels."

"Oh, no, lets show Marianne the hot springs," Annette said, as if pleading with Dimitri, though he would have agreed without any provocation.

"I would like that," he agreed, looking at Felix for permission.

With an expression of vague annoyance, Felix nodded, and then he and Dimitri each glanced to where Marianne continued her conversation with Rodrigue.

.

There was a social element to the hot springs that Marianne feared, but Sylvain made a joke that set her at ease, and challenged her to try the new experience.

Dimitri half expected Felix to return home after dutifully guiding their group to their destination, and thanked him for his continued company and conversation, such as it was, while they sat together in the steaming water. Sylvain was kind and assertive, inspecting Dimitri's right side as he stretched his arm and took advantage of the heat, to massage strong fingers into his shoulder.

Elsewhere, Ingrid and Annette had Marianne giggling as the trio raced from the spring to the snow and back again each time they grew over-red from being boiled together.

Later, they drank and reminisced, and Ingrid pulled Dimitri aside, to reaffirm that she would have been his knight and protector ... and that she still would, if he wanted to pursue his place in Fhirdiad. She saw no reason to defer to the law in Garreg Mach when Faerghus could still have its own king, and if not that, then at least he could be recognized, as the rest of them were, within Fodlan's nobility.

The shock that overtook Dimitri frightened her, when she had only meant to offer him his ancestral home, and the respect many had died to get him.

Sylvain and Felix were in listening distance, and Ingrid had known that; the four of them looked to Marianne, weaving Annette's hair in a five strand braid, while they spoke of seals and bears and other creatures that plagued the harbours.

Felix hissed about how Ingrid would throw them from one war into another, reminding her that Dimitri was hidden away precisely to avoid what she was suggesting: that there would be people willing to die for their rightful king to reclaim his place in Fhirdiad.

Everything would change if Dimitri returned, and they'd lose the trust of the Adrestians, especially Ferdinand, when they had already been caught in another lie.

"You can't come back," Felix said to finish his argument. Aggressive, nervous, cruel.

"Dimitri should be given a choice now that he's recovered," Ingrid said, firm.

"He's recovering," Sylvain insisted.

With a great expression of self control, Dimitri maintained his volume as he declared for his friends' forgotten benefit, "I am right here." He waited for the shame to silence them before he went on. "And things are not ... how I envisioned them — how I wanted them? My mind and upbringing feel ... wasteful, at times; and yet I have been consulted," he sighed, "on strategy and trade, customs and etiquette — by Felix and Marianne both. My input is heard in Faerghus and Leicester, and if I willed it, I am sure that Garreg Mach is within my reach ... even Almyra."

Sylvain raised his tankard in salute as he walked away then, seeing that a fight wasn't about to break out, and that Dimitri had their conversation well in hand. He complimented Annette's hair, and strove to further distract the ladies from the dark turn of that other corner of the room.

"If Faerghus was threatened, I would find my way back here, lance in hand. But I trust the peace that's been building. And the crown, as it was, only invited duplicity and massacres. Faerghus will thrive without me." With one arm he embraced Ingrid, pressing a kiss to her temple. "And Sylvain is right, I have been recovering. I would not risk all of Faerghus' progress, all of your work," his eyes drifted to Felix for a moment, "because I could not accept the truth of what a minister said. I still struggle. I am more comfortable with smaller challenges ... and I would appreciate your reassurance of our friendship as I am."

"Of course, Mitya," Ingrid insisted.

"Thank you."

"I miss you," Ingrid clarified. "I miss... The lives I thought I'd have by now."

"Change is painful," Felix agreed, sharp and forgiving.

"Yours is a life worth celebrating," Dimitri promised. He drank at the same time as his old friends, and then fumbled after, worried about sounding too much like his healers, but still he added, "Take time to recognize success."

Their quiet conversation was interrupted by Marianne and Annette hollering with laughter, and Dimitri could not even imagine Marianne's disappointment in him if in returning to Fhirdiad he brought a new conflict to her doorstep. He could not imagine his own heartbreak if their peoples ever returned to bloodshed. Sadly, he had imagined his horror with the possibility of witnessing another day like the tragedy, his blue love desecrated, their hypothetical children screaming, and him again, a lone survivor.

He would not speak of this in casual conversation with his friends, though perhaps in private with Marianne at some later time.

He was grateful for his anonymity.

.

It was late in the night when they made for bed, and Marianne was as drunk as he, and Dimitri worried between her state and their locale that he shouldn't have followed behind the door of her rooms. They had lain together a handful of times, but not for weeks now, yet she pressed him against the door like it was a casual thing, delicate fingers curving over his hips.

They leaned close as if they might kiss, and then she turned her face away from him with a sigh.

"I hope I haven't made a fool of myself. Did you have a good night, Mitya?"

"Beloved," Dimitri beckoned, curving a large hand around the side of her face, his scarred fingers had been mended and shattered an embarrassing number of times in the early use of his Crest. He guided her to look at him, his shining blue eye, deep as the ocean in the dark of the room.

"Thank you for bringing me here," he said, his tone deep and sincere. "The snow, the culture, my friends... I missed them more than I realized. I've had a very good night."

His last sentence was near whispered upon her lips, his thick lower lip tickling against her mouth.

Eyes closed, Marianne hummed her approval, bumping her nose against Dimitri's; narrow and then bulbous, a pretty princely feature that somehow he still maintained despite the violence in his life.

He bent to kiss Marianne, his hands finding her upper arms, her shoulders, her neck, and her twin braids, a gift from Annette that extended nearly to Marianne's waist.

"I should let you sleep," Dimitri whispered, though he felt how Marianne's hands wandered, pressing his shirt against the muscles on his chest and stomach.

Marianne looked from her bed to Dimitri. "Let me sit," she requested, "and I'll untie your hair. Stay with me a while longer." She swayed a little and Dimitri worried he would have to catch her. "Your friends are kind," Marianne confided, "but it felt a little strange as the night wore on, and maybe it's just me, and maybe it's just the building, but I know I can rely on you. Say you'll stay."

"A while longer," Dimitri agreed, drifting a thumb through her bangs as his hand rested on the side of her tightly bound hair again.

He sat between her knees while she pulled the ribbon from his fine hair, carefully carding through it with her fingers around the strap of his eye patch, and then allowing her hands to find the muscles of his neck, thick from stress and training.

One dainty foot made it's way over one of Dimitri's monstrous shoulders, and he brought the opposite one over his other side, leaning back into Marianne's space so her skirt ballooned out around him. They shared a soft laugh.

"Did you have any trouble today?" Marianne asked, gentle in her approach of his occasional visions.

"I thought of Glenn," Dimitri confided, "but I am uncertain if I saw him or imagined him today. There are many memories of him here. And ... at the gates, I ... I saw some violence that was not there, but I could not hear it. I'll write it down tomorrow."

"Tell me about Glenn? There must be a happy memory tucked into what came to mind."

"He would have made you feel welcome," Dimitri insisted with a smile. "He was very personable, and I was always glad to be in his company — though I was always closer with Felix, and so thought, like Felix, that I was in contest with him. Unless my Crest activated, I was always left embarrassed, and regardless of whether my Crest activated, I always lost. Felix was often disappointed in both of us."

.

Dimitri spoke of friends like family until well after Marianne curled up on her side. He stayed on the floor, and spoke with less frequency, though the memories didn't fade. He could picture Glenn on the opposite side of the room, a macabre spectre of the self from his memories, but it wasn't a hallucination this time, just a horrible imagining, the loss of a friend.

Dimitri kissed Marianne's forehead, and she mumbled that she was still awake, despite sounding as if she were miles away. Still, Dimitri smiled and kissed her lips, just in case, and then left for his own chamber.

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[kumeko]

A/N: For the @fe3hmonthly (on twitter) Goddess Messenger zine! I wanted to write a smattering of pairings I haven’t explored as much as I’d like.

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i.

Everywhere Claude looked, it was white. The grounds, the roofs, even the sky were this dreary shade of eggshell, as though even nature couldn’t muster up any energy. It was Great Tree Moon, the starting of spring, and yet Fódlan still felt like it was in the throes of winter. He shouldn’t have been surprised; even his textbooks had told him that Fódlan’s winters lasted longer, were colder, and were gloomier than anything he’d experienced in Almyra.

Still, it was one thing to read about it, another to experience it. Claude laced his hands behind his head as he strolled through the interconnecting passages between the academy buildings. All in all, it wouldn’t have been too bad if the buildings were just a little festive. At this point, Almyra was in the middle of spring preparations, the buildings decorated in bright papers and the people in even brighter clothes. The academy? Even the new year decorations were down now, leaving this depressing sight.

Claude hadn’t expected to feel homesick over something as trivial as this. He hadn’t expected to feel homesick at all.

“Hey, Claude!” Hilda waved as she fell in step beside him. Her pink hair bobbed as she walked. Clasping her hands behind her back, she leaned forward and asked, “So, what’s your take on the new professor?”

“Byleth?” Claude raised a brow, looking at his right-hand woman. Another thing he hadn’t expected: finding a partner in Hilda. Her slothful attitude hid a brilliant mind, one almost on par with his for mischief making, and he had plans.

“Who else?” Hilda laughed, shaking her head. “Gosh, you’re so silly sometimes.”

He didn’t bother to reply to that. Instead he hummed thoughtfully as he considered her question. “Byleth…huh…”

“I mean, she must have really impressed you if you asked her to be our teacher.” Hilda straightened up. Tapping her chin, she mused, “I don’t think I could handle Hanneman-levels of strictness. It’d be nice if she was relaxed like Manuela.”

“Neither, I think.” Claude shrugged. Even now he remembered the ease with which she’d protected Edelgard, her confidence as she fought—it put her head and shoulders above the other two teachers. Add in her ridiculously blank face and he had found entertainment for the rest of the year. “She’s real quick on her feet. Strong too. And unlike Hanneman and Manuela, she has a lot of experience.”

A mercenary who’d seen the continent, who’d travelled from town to town, untouched by the church…part of him wondered just what change she could bring to the academy. To his classmates. To himself. What was her view on things?

“Well, that’s good and all, but…” Hilda groaned. Her long pigtails brushed against him as she hunched over. “She’s totally going to give us a lot of work.”

“Probably,” Claude agreed, patting Hilda on the back. “Especially considering the Battle of Eagle and Lion are coming up. I wonder if she’ll be ready for it.”

Hilda groaned again, leaning against him. He wrapped an arm around her to steady her as she dramatically sighed. “You should have just let us take Manuela.”

“Nah, Teach is perfect for us. Trust me.” Their pace was slower now, his arm still wrapped around Hilda’s waist. Oddly, he didn’t mind. “Though….”

“Though?” Hilda glanced up at him, raising a brow. He didn’t miss the spark of interest in her eyes.

“Well, maybe we could give her a test of our own.” Claude grinned, eyeing the endless snow. This would solve both of his problems. “Something to make sure she’s ready for the Battle of Eagle and Lion, and maybe have a little fun while we’re at it.”

Hilda furrowed her brow, her expression distrustful. “Fun?”

“Back in…” Claude caught himself. “Back at home, my family has this fun tradition every spring. We throw colourful powders at each other.”

Her distrust turned into confusion. “You threw powderat each other?”

“Well, we usually wait till it’s a little warmer too. Trust me, it’s better than it sounds. It’s kinda like a free-for-all tag.” Claude shrugged. If there was one good thing about the border situation with Almyra, it was that no one in Fódlan knew what he was describing. As far as they were concerned, he was just describing an event from a backwater town. “We’ll make it a mock battle. Maybe we could do it with snowballs? Or fill thin waterskins with coloured water?”

The more he spoke, the more enamoured with the idea he became. Their class, just barely acquainted, could properly learn about each other. More importantly, it’d be the first Almyran thing he’d done in a year and he tried to hide his rising enthusiasm. “Maybe it can be all of us against Teach.”

Hilda, however, was on the opposite side of the spectrum. She grimaced. “That sounds like a lotta work.”

“Just a little.” When she still shot him a baleful stare, he tightened his grip on her waist and rested his head on her chin. “Come on, it’ll be fun. You’ll like it. Besides…you can always rope in the others to do the work.”

“I’d do that anyways,” she replied bluntly, though she didn’t pull away or object further.

Claude chuckled. He should have expected that answer. “Fine, you can watch during the game?”

“Let’s just say you owe me one,” Hilda replied, smiling cunningly as she pulled out of his arms.

“Blackmail?” He clutched his heart. “To think you’d stoop so low.”

“Please, like you wouldn’t do the same to me,” Hilda retorted before breaking into laughter.

“True.” Claude shrugged. There was no point in denying it. “Let’s see if Anna’s willing to cut us a deal on some supplies.”

Hilda snorted, hooking an arm through his. “Like she’d let you have a penny.”

“Oh, she’ll give me more.” When Hilda turned to him, bemused, Claude winked. “Blackmail material, remember?”

ii.

The library was quiet. Not in the way Claude was used to, where you could still hear rustling paper and erasers hitting the floor, or the soft groans of students as they tried to finish exams. No, this was the silence of the uninhabited, where only the wind blowing in through the cracks broke the silence.

It had been a long five years since the library had last been used. Holding up his lamp, Claude slowly slung it from side to side, checking the cobweb-covered shelves for intruders. Not even a rat scurried out of his sight. “I guess I can’t tease Lysithea about it now.”

Lorenz didn’t reply as he checked the other half of the dark library. The light flickered, casting shadows on his face and Claude couldn’t read his expression.

Curious, Claude tried again. “Even I feel like a ghost can pop out at any moment.”

“Yes,” Lorenz muttered non-committedly, falling in step with Claude as they exited the room. Everything about him was unnaturally stiff, from his shoulders to the way he jerked at every sound. Grinning, Claude leaned closer and blew in his ear.

Lorenz yelped, jumping. Covering his ear, he glared at Claude. “What is wrong with you?”

“Just thought you needed some help relaxing.” Claude held his hands up in surrender. He hadn’t expected this much of a reaction. “Scared?”

“It is not fear.” Lorenz rubbed his arm, looking away. “It’s just…”

They were passing the courtyard now. Half it was still covered in rubble. “It’s not?” he asked as he stepped over a pothole.

“This place…it’s a graveyard,” Lorenz whispered.

“Oh.” There really wasn’t anything else he could say to that. It was. He hadn’t thought of it that way, but it was.

They rounded the corner to the great hall, where they’d temporarily set up the patrol camp. It was the best place to keep an eye on everything. Lorenz added, “You don’t think my father…our lands and people, will end up like this?”

“What’re you talking about?” Baffled, Claude raised a brow. “We’re fighting this war to prevent that.”

“I know, I know, it is just…the Empire will know my father’s decisions. If we fail…” Lorenz gestured around them. “They will not let us off lightly. Everything could disappear.”

“Oh.” Maybe he should have expected this, considering how they were planning to visit Lord Gloucester. Lorenz’s homeland straddled the border of the battlefield, and while his father had managed to balance its duties to the Leicester Alliance with treaties to the Empire, it couldn’t last much longer.

In the dark night, it was easy for old fears to resurface. They were surrounded by ghosts and the silence only made them louder. Even the few merchants that had returned didn’t make enough sound to echo through the great hall.

Lorenz almost seemed to shrink into himself. “I know it is a little late to say all of this.”

Claude studied Lorenz, taking note of how pale he looked in the faint light and how his fingers shook as he held the lantern. If Lorenz couldn’t convince himself, how could he convince his father? Donning a reassuring smile, he shook his head. “It’ll work out.”

While he didn’t pull away, Lorenz looked at him doubtfully. “How?”

“Because we’re here!” Claude squeezed Lorenz’s shoulder, winking. “A Reigan and a Gloucester? You think anyone can stand up to this combo?”

“I…” Lorenz bit his lip as he slowly nodded, looking utterly unconvinced. “I suppose.”

This wasn’t the Lorenz he was used to; he hadn’t even considered it a chance to best him. Claude sat down on a bench as they exited Great Hall and patted the spot beside him. “Come on. Sit.”

“We haven’t finished our patrol,” Lorenz pointed out, eyeing the bench.

“We can have a little break.” He set down the lantern at his feet. “Come on, it won’t harm us.”

“Until we’re attacked.” Despite his grumbling, Lorenz sat down beside him.

“You can keep me warm till then.” Claude slung his arm around Lorenz. He squawked, his ears a bright red, but he didn’t move away.

As usual, a Lone Moon night was a chilly one. On nights like this in Almyra, Claude’s family would gather, telling stories as they warded off the cold. Winter’s claws desperately dug into spring, but a warm night was enough to chase it away.

“What’re you looking forward to?” Claude asked, staring at the lantern. It didn’t take much imagination to see a bigger flame in its stead, to imagine blankets and hot drinks in their hands. In the last several years, he had learned how to sneak in his customs into life, to keep his Almyran memories alive.

“What do you mean?” Lorenz asked, hesitantly leaning closer.

Claude laughed, pulling him close enough so Lorenz could lean on his shoulder comfortably. This time there wasn’t even a squeak, though Lorenz’s ears were an even darker red. “Well, we’re going to your home, right? Tell me about it.”

He didn’t so much see Lorenz’s frown as much as he felt it. “I suspect your intentions.”

“Completely honest and pure,” he replied easily. Resting his chin on Lorenz’s head, he added, “Just think of it as a way to pass the time.”

For a long moment, Lorenz was silent. Then, slowly, he replied, “There’s a rose garden that I’ve hand-planted. It won’t be much in the spring but come summer…you won’t find bigger blooms anywhere else.”

Claude hummed encouragingly, letting Lorenz’s voice chase away the ghosts.

iii.

Byleth’s hand was in his. There were many things Khalid could have been focusing on, like the fact that they were strolling through an Almyran marketplace together. After the war, he hadn’t thought it’d only take a year for him to return to her side, that he’d make it all the way to king so quickly. Absence didn’t only make the heart fonder, it seemed, but his ambitions stronger too.

Or he could focus on what he was saying. Ever since she’d rode into Almyra’s capital, Khalid had taken it onto himself to guide her through his home. Everything was new to her, and while her expression was still hard to read, it wasn’t impossible anymore. Her eyes widened at the brightly coloured stalls, her lips parted at the scent of sizzling meat and fried vegetables, and her grip tightened every time some new, strange sight caught her attention.

Yet, it was hard to care about anything except for the fact that she was here, next to him, her fingers intertwined in his. He wasn’t even sure what he was saying right now, his normally fast mind frozen as he drank in the sight of her. Her hand was just as rough as he’d remembered. Even months as the ruler of Fódlan hadn’t changed that. Calluses and small cuts littered her palm, and his thumb unconsciously brushed a scar on her thumb.

“Why are there so many?” Byleth asked.

“Because—” Khalid stared at her blankly before realizing he had no idea what she was talking about. Or even where they were. At some point they’d passed through the market and reached the start of the residential section. “…sorry, so many what?”

Byleth glanced at him curiously. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” he replied immediately, squeezing her hand. “The exact opposite.”

She raised a brow, not buying it for a second. Serious as she was, she more often than not saw right through him and Khalid wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Especially when she was still a mystery to him, one he had yet to unravel. He’d probably spend the rest of his life figuring her out.

He oddly enough didn’t mind.

“The kites,” Byleth finally asked, pointing above them. “There weren’t nearly as many yesterday.”

He followed her hand to the bright blue sky, speckled with dozens of colourful kites. There had been a few in the marketplace as well, but now that they were near the homes, the kites were everywhere. Children laughed and shouted as they stood on the flat rooftops, tugging the strings of their kites as they tried not to tangle one another. Their parents kept a watchful eye, ensuring no one fell off as they played along as well.

Khalid had been so busy planning everything, he’d actually forgotten that spring started today. For once, he wasn’t going to spend it in the cold snows of Fódlan, or their dreary hallways. He wouldn’t have to make up a story on old family customs as he convinced his fellow deer to bring his traditions to life and ease his homesickness a little.

No, it was all right here in front of him.

And yet, he couldn’t help but turn to Byleth. It was the first time he’d seen kites dance in several years and all he wanted to see was her expression as she studied their ribbon tails.

“It’s to celebrate spring,” Khalid replied softly, watching her quiet awe. “Nothing as stuffy as Fódlan’s customs.”

“It is different,” she agreed, turning her head slightly to follow a bright red one as it swooped through the air.

“It’s more fun to join in than to watch.” He let go of her hand, scanning their surroundings for a vendor. They weren’t hard to find; almost every shop was selling kites today.

The closest vendor held out two kites, one teal green and the other golden them. Shaking them, he called out, “For you and your consort, Badshah.”

His people were nosy busybodies. Khalid missed the anonymity of his youth, a time when no one cared about who he was or where he went. Still, he was the king now. It wasn’t surprising they were all watching him now.

“I’ll send payment after,” he replied, resisting the urge to sigh as he gently grabbed the two kites.

“No, there is no need—”

“I’m not that cheap,” Khalid replied, grinning as he returned to Byleth’s side. She cocked her head curiously at the kites. “Now let’s—”

“You can fly them here, Badshah!”

Khalid did sigh now. Busybodies, the entire lot of them. Oh well, it was a nice spring day, with a constant, gentle breeze, and Byleth was at his side. He’d save the complaints for later.

The offered roof was two stories off the ground. From here, he could make out the maze of buildings that made the capital, the rooftops he used to dash across as a mischievous child. Byleth brushed back a stray lock as the wind blew. “We fly them up here?”

“Yeah, best spot in the city is one of these rooftops.” Khalid grinned as he handed her the teal kite. Busying himself with unwinding thread for his kite, he added. “There’s a lot of kites here, so you’ll have to keep a tight hold of yours.”

“Why kites?” Byleth stared at her kite, rotating it in her hands. Noticing what he was doing, she imitated him and started to unravel her thread.

“They’re colourful? Fun?” Khalid shrugged. Almost all of his childhood was filled with mundane things that amounted to just cause. He’d spent so much time looking at Fódlan, that he’d never really considered Almyra. Maybe it was time he changed that.

Byleth held her kite awkwardly in one hand, her string in the other. Tossing the kite in the air, she watched as it immediately crashed in front of her. “Huh.”

Immediately, Khalid burst into laughter. “What was that?”

“Flying a kite,” Byleth replied evenly, picking up the kite. Once more, she tossed it in the air. Once more, it crashed right in front of her.

It was even funnier the second time and Khalid wrapped his arms around his belly as he guffawed. “That’s not flying.”

“How do you do it?” she asked, giving him a baleful look.

“You’ve never flown a kite?” He straightened slightly, rubbing the tears out of his eyes.

“No.” Byleth turned the kite in her hands one more time, but her bemused expression didn’t change.

“I don’t know how you always manage to surprise me.” Khalid shook his head, still laughing as he put down his kite and picked up hers. He held it up, waiting for the wind to push against it. Once it did, he grabbed the line, slowly releasing it into the air. As he moved toward Byleth, he released more and more wire, sending the kite high into the sky. “There you go, one flying kite.”

Byleth scrunched her nose as she observed. “I see.”

Unable to help himself, he broke into laughter. “You don’t have to concentrate that hard. It’s easy.”

Her expression didn’t change as she gingerly took the kite. She looked like a wooden doll, square shoulders, tense arms, stony expression as she glared up at the kite, daring it to fall.

“Seriously?” Khalid snorted. There’d come a day when Byleth ceased to either impress him or amuse him, but it wouldn’t be today. “Here, let me show you.”

Standing behind her, he pressed his palms on her shoulders and forced them down. “Relax.” He leaned forward now, his dark hair mixing with her green locks as he guided her arms into a more neutral position. “The wind does most of the work, you just have to guide it.”

“This is harder than it looks,” Byleth muttered, still looking like the kite had personally wronged her.

“Only for you.” Khalid grinned, tugging on the string slightly so the kite swooped. “If you get really good at it, you can even cut other kite strings with your kite.”

Byleth frowned. “Why would you do that?”

“Kite battles. Though, with your stance, you’ll lose every time. Didn’t think you could be bad at something.” Khalid sighed blissfully, feeling utterly content and warm. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so complete, without something he needed to strive for, without pushing for yet another destination. They could just stay here for the rest of their lives. “You know, I really missed this in Fódlan.”

Byleth didn’t say anything, but he could feel her lean back into him, encouraging him to continue.

“I didn’t think I’d get homesick of all things.” Khalid chuckled, feeling soft at the memories over the years. “I’d find excuses to worm in traditions into whatever we were doing.”

Byleth stiffened slightly. “Is that why you attacked me with coloured water back then?”

“That…yeah.” Khalid had almost forgotten about that incident—it’d been almost six years ago for him, but for Byleth it had only been last year. “You had fun.”

“Fun…” she trailed off doubtfully.

“Well, everyone else did at least.” Khalid grinned. “The actual festival’s going to come up in a few weeks—you can see what the real thing’s like. That is, if you aren’t homesick by then.”

“…I don’t think I’ll be,” Byleth replied easily.

Somehow, that answer didn’t surprise him. “I bet you’ve never felt homesick, huh?”

“No, I have.” Byleth tugged on the kite string, pulling it lower before releasing it back up. “When you were gone.”

Of all the answers he’d expected, that wasn’t one of them. His voice cracked. “Did you now?”

“Yeah.” Byleth concentrated on the kite, as though this were just an idle observation, as though she hadn’t said anything important.

Khalid wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her neck. Despite how stoic she was, she saw everything so clearly. Suddenly, everything clicked into place for him—he’d been feeling homesick too. It didn’t matter if he was in Almyra or in Fódlan, the sights around him meant nothing if she wasn’t by his side. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Byleth hummed, pressing her cheek on his head. “Me too.”

[skepticaloccultist]

The Society with No Name

The Society with No Name

 I had taken the train in from our temporary accommodation in the English countryside to deal with a few pressing matters back in London. Our house in Hackney has been packed, and while most of it will go to storage some is on its way to Portugal. We have taken offices there, and are preparing to sign the papers for our new home in Portugal in the coming days.

There are many things I will miss about London, though these days of plague mean that I miss them already. The bookshops and private libraries, the lectures and occasional events that bring me out into the night. But this country has become a shambles, and more sensible accommodation is in our future.

Among those things that I will think of even in the brightest of Portuguese sunshine is a place that I have come to consider a second home in London. One of the few reclusive lairs in central London that affords one such as myself a bit of respite, and a proper coffee, or whiskey as the case may be.

Located down a street too narrow for any but foot traffic, two right turns from Leicester Square station, is a rather peculiar building that seems to have grown like a weed among the more traditional structures around it.

Painted these days where there is wood on its two facades in a dark blue, the building is narrow at its base, a corner slot some 20 feet on either of its two street facing sides. Stretching some five or so stories tall it is impossibly angled outward over the sidewalk as it rises. Not in any modernist architectural style, just in a centuries long battle with gravity.

The door is nondescript, black painted wood under a stone mantel that bears the number "13", though the vagaries of London's postal code system mean that it hasn't had that number as a street address since shortly after Queen Victoria expired.

If one were to knock at the door, no one would answer. To enter, one needs to have a key.

+++

I became a member or "key holder" of the society sometime during the summer of 2009. It had long been on the fringes of my social group, small though it has always been. Though it was only through a chance meeting of a standing member that I was invited to join.

As many will know I have spent my life politely declining membership in a range of secret societies, handshake clubs, and masonic fraternities dressed up in various historic ethnographic fashions. I have never been much on membership in anything, initiatory or otherwise. I am not a very social fellow when it comes down to it.

It was the complete lack of any "club" like structure that the society presented that drew my attention. Members are not encouraged to interact, no events public or otherwise are planned. One simply pays annual dues and receives a key that grants them access to the building, including a small lobby bar staffed 24 hours a day, a number of rooms of various sizes furnished with arrangements of chairs and tables with doors that can be closed, and access to one of the largest private esoteric libraries in the world, taking up an entire floor of the building.

Not only is one not compelled by the society to interact with other members, but if you have not been introduced it is considered impolite to attempt conversation. Ideal for the recluse who seeks a perfect Turkish espresso at 1am, with the least amount of social interaction possible.

When one has entered through the front of the building the hall is modestly lit, a short entry that has a coat room to one side and opens into a sort of lobby, with a cafe style bar set into the rear of a small room, a few chairs and a table or two along one wall and three booths along another.

The bartender on duty never comes from behind the bar to serve, and it is expected that each member bus their own tables before they leave. A hallmark of the society is courteousness.

Opposite the entry way across the tiny lobby is the staircase, which goes upward around a tattery old iron lift. The stairs creak as you climb them, but the hand railing is fixed solid. Not something that can be said for the lift.

I have ridden the lift on several occasions, each time being reminded why no one ever rides in the lift. The noise alone is enough to think a banshee was the operator.

One climbs the slender stairs, pausing on the occasional landing to peer out of the crooked windows onto the street below. No one ever seems to be on the streets when you look out of the windows, regardless of how crowded the streets were just moments ago when you were approaching the building.

On each floor the stairs open to a landing that leads into various rooms. Some more private than others. The rooms are decorated minimally, with shelves of books and curiosities left over the years by members.

On the third floor is the library.

+++

 The origins of the society seem to have come out of a select group within the British supper club the "Ye Sette of Odd Volumes." Members of that organization seem to have acquired the building in the early 1900s and from there the society evolved.

It is unknown to current members who actually owns the building, or if the society holds it in some obscure trust. Though a general trust fund was setup in the 1950s and covers staff pay and building upkeep, the annual dues each member pays seem to come to about the required budget each year.

The building was built sometime in the 18th century, though from its ill fitting the upper few stories must have been a later addition. Typical of the period the rooms are mostly wood trimmed plaster walls. Each of the member rooms is painted in a particular colour scheme, though these seem to change as years go by.

As was typical of societies of the early 20th century membership is coed, with women being key holders from the beginning. The only restriction to membership is that members must live within commuting distance of London. Those members that leave the region must relinquish their key. It is intended as a place of solitude for those who need it in their dealings with the city, a place to coordinate and consult with the volumes in the library.

It is said among older members that the building was a well known opium den in the late 19th century, frequented by literary types and dragon chasing aristocrats. The layout of the rooms certainly lends itself to the idea of opium beds and servitors, with the rooms' high ceilings perfectly suited to smoke filled chambers.

The rooms on the top two floors of the building are more open, like small ballrooms. Though furnished with a few chairs they are easily emptied out for purposes privy to only the society members behind closed doors. These rooms, unlike those on the lower floors, have windows that can be opened. It is considered polite to book a room ahead on the calendar if one plans to need it for more than a day, though exceptions are often made.

+++

Unlike the other floors, which are divided into smaller rooms, the landing of the third floor has only a single door, made of glass and requiring a key to open, the same as the buildings front door. This is the entrance to the society's library, a densely packed but well organized room full of books, maps, papers and other ephemera.

The society's library grew out of the private libraries and individual donations of previous members of the society, usually upon their death. It takes up the entire third floor, with fiction and other non essential volumes found across the shelves of many of the members rooms on other floors.

The first member whose private collection was to form the core of the original library, who willed a portion of their collection to the society upon their death, was William Sharp, former Golden Dawn member and founder of the Celtic Society. After his collection was sorted other members began to add works, then as members passed on it became a custom for their private libraries to be donated to the society.

By the end of the second World War a librarian had been employed as part of the staff trust. Initially just a job of sorting and keeping records it has evolved into a more curatorial role as the members who donate their collections often have a great overlap in their private libraries' holdings and there is only so much space on the third floor.

Works from the library can not be removed from the building. Anyone attempting to do so is banned without recourse. They may be taken to the members rooms but must be signed out at the time, though signing out is on an honors system of a paper list on a clipboard near the library door. In the history of the society a book has never gone missing.

The holdings of the library are much of what you would expect, rare volumes, original manuscripts. The society holds the personal papers and effects of several of its former members. Possibly my favorite object in the library, though in no way occult, is a stack of love letters written between botanist and writer Edith Wheelwright and Beatrix Potter in the late 1920s. An eloquent longing preserved in a private way that will never be seen by public eyes. The two women's handwriting alone makes one ache with decadence.

+++

The gentleman who primarily works behind the bar is an eloquent older Italian who speaks a dozen languages in passing and can read one's tarot on a rainy day. He makes a distinguished espresso as well.

I have long attempted to get him to stock some pastries at the bar but he refuses, serving only liquids hot and cold. On days where I am holed up in one of the rooms I often pop around the corner to an unremarkable ramen noodle shop. A tiny place decorated in a trendy colourful style but a passing bowl of noodles if one knows how to order.

I was able, sometime after a year or so of being a key holder, to insist that the bar stock my preferred bourbon. Though I had to personally supply the first few bottles kept behind the counter they eventually began to replenish themselves.

I do run into friends who are also members occasionally on the stairs, though more often I am in the building to meet them directly during daylight hours. The hours I generally keep tend to be late, and while there are others who frequent the society at similarly nocturnal intervals, like myself, they keep to themselves and their business.

It will be a shame to have to hand in my key in the coming month, I will be unable to spend as much time as I would have liked here in this comfortable late 19th century chair, whose time for a reupholstering was ages since, and to look out of the window on the landing outside of the library, where no one ever passes by below regardless of the time of day, and the park across the way from the building seems to go unnoticed to anyone but the squirrels.

Perhaps London will lure me back one day, after the plague and the war have passed? Previous members in good standing are always welcome to return if they find themselves living full time in London again. In the meantime I drink a final espresso or two from Silvio, taking the bourbon with me, and spend some time in the library saying my goodbyes.

[merakilyy]

Step, Two, Three

Pairing: Dimileth (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) Tags: Wedding, fluff, so much fluff aiyaaa Summary: The first time Dimitri and Byleth see Claude after the war is during their wedding. A conversation is had.

~~~

The first time in her life Byleth ever really got all dolled up with makeup and hair and a fancy dress and jewelry was for her wedding.

As royal tradition insisted, Byleth and Dmitri had very little input in their own wedding. This was mostly agreeable to them. With the war still in recent memory, Dimitri’s new kingly advisors all agreed to hold Dimitri and Byleth’s wedding, their coronation as King and Queen of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and Byleth’s official inception as the new Archbishop of Seiros in quick succession so as to give the people of Fodlan joyous memories to hold onto. With so much rebuilding to do, Dimitri and Byleth had readily agreed to this succession, thinking that getting the formalities out of the way so quickly would allow them to return to their rebuilding effort sooner. 

Dimitri and Byleth’s influence was limited to the date, a handful of extra invitations, and -- with Dimitri’s insistence -- the rings. The rings were the one part of their wedding where Dimitri refused to give in. Dimitri had been adamant for their mutual exchange of rings as equals and with the support of Houses Gautier, Fraldarius, Dominic, Galatea, and Charon behind him, even the most reserved noble did not dare voice their objection to Byleth’s elevation as Dimitri’s equal.

Given that Byleth was now a war hero and the new Archbishop of Seiros, any dissenters were few and far between.

Earlier, prior to the ceremony when she stood in before the full length mirror clad in all her wedding finery, was the first time Byleth could genuinely say she cared about her appearance. She hadn’t cared much for the specifics of her wedding, even leaving the design of her dress to Mercedes and Annette, but Byleth couldn’t help the pleasure that bubbled within her as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

Mercedes and Annette had pulled through with a stunning dress, even with limited supplies in the post-war months. White lace sleeves covered Byleth’s arms but a dip in the back left her battle scars proudly on display. The royal blue sash that cinched her waist matched the hue of Dimitri’s uniform.

Their coordination was such that Claude commented on it as he spun Byleth around the dance floor.

“So you and Dimitri, huh? Quite the pair you two make.”

Byleth smiled, allowing herself to express the full extent of her joy. “Are you surprised?”

“Me? Never,” Claude winked. He stopped speaking momentarily as he twirled Byleth away and resumed as she twirled back in. “We all suspected something between you and Dimitri back in our academy days. We all knew you were both too mindful of the rules and of Lady Rhea to do anything about it then, but there were definitely a good number of wagers on how long it would take until you got together. I had some good money on when Sylvain and Felix would get together as well. Shame that the war interrupted everything.”

Byleth’s smile dimmed at the reminder of the years Dimitri suffered alone while she laid under the rubble. “The war was unfortunate,” she said, reserved.

Luckily, Claude recognized the hint. “Ah, but we shouldn’t dwell on the past! This is your wedding and you look much too beautiful to not be glowing!”

Byleth laughed. “Well, Duke Riegan, flattery will get you everywhere.”

“Ain’t that the truth, Teach,” Claude grinned, winking at Byleth again. “Former Duke Riegan, that is,” he corrected Byleth.

Soon after, the song came to an end. Claude stepped back and bowed just as Dimitri approached. 

“Well, Teach,” Claude rose from his bow. Nodding at Dimitri, he continued, “I really do appreciate the dance. I didn’t think I’d be back so soon after just leaving Fodlan. Not that I had any doubt you would defeat Edelgard in the time you did. If anyone could stop her, it would be you, Teach. But, I mean, I just didn’t think I would have a reason to come back so soon regardless of the war. Selfish of me, of course, but I wasn’t expecting to be around for the rebuilding efforts. The best thing for the Leicester Alliance was entrust them to you.”

Dimitri stepped into their discussion then and Byleth slipped her arm around his, linking their elbows together. Dimitri turned to smile down at her before nodding at Claude. 

“Claude,” Dimitri reached out and patted Claude’s shoulder in greeting, “I am thankful that you have put your travels on hold to return to Fodlan for our festivities.”

“Hey, hey, hey, no need to get all formal on me now, Dimitri! You know it would take a lot more than a handful of Almyran bandits to stop me from coming to your wedding. ‘Sides, when was the last time all of Fodlan had something this big to celebrate together?”

There was truth to Claude’s words. Unfortunately, this came at the expense of Dimitri and Byleth. In their rush to raise morale throughout Fodlan, the entire royal court at Fhirdiad and all of Garreg Mach had been scrambling to pull together so much in such short succession in just a few short weeks. Despite their lack of input, both Byleth and Dimitri were already exhausted by the time their wedding rolled around.

“Oh Goddess, don’t remind me,” Dimitri groaned. “These past weeks have simply been exhaustingly hectic with all the ceremonial planning. Would you believe that our wedding has been the most relaxing day for the both of us in weeks? And it will remain so at least until the end of the moon!”

“Wow, Dimitri, not planning to relax for your honeymoon? I didn’t think you had it in you, but you have my congratulations!” Claude wriggled his eyebrows in the most ridiculous, exaggerated manner. 

Dimitri flushed at Claude’s crude implications but Byleth, having grown up with the crassness of mercenaries, simply laughed. Her free hand rose to rest on Dimitri’s bicep.

“No, Claude,” Byleth corrected, eyes still twinkling with laughter. “We will not be having a honeymoon. There is no time for one, what with all the ceremonies, and we will be travelling back to Garreg Mach immediately after the coronation. Then we will be taking a tour of all of Fodlan to survey the damage for ourselves and visit the subsidiary churches.”

Claude shook his head, “you two really are still the same. Always working so hard, working so selflessly. I really do respect that. After all, your selflessness is what got me out of my tight spot in Derdriu during the War. But I’ve got to say, Dimitri, marriage and kingliness really does suit you. You look much better now.”

“It is all thanks to my beloved Byleth,” Dimitri said gently, looking at Byleth with his love and adoration blatantly spelled out on his face. “It is thanks to Byleth that I have been pulled out of the darkness.”

Byleth’s expression was far more reserved -- though she felt no less love than Dimitri, she was still not the most expressive person. “You do not give yourself enough credit, my love,” Byleth said gently, her adoration as clear as day to those who knew her. 

“Woah woah woah there,” Claude held his up before him and jokingly took a few steps back before Dimitri could respond with any further declarations of love. “I only came here for the food and festivities! And to visit some old friends, of course, but not to be victim to your newlywed hormones!”

Again, Dimitri’s cheeks flushed. “It was an honour to see you again, Claude. The von Riegen seat in our Assembly of Nobles remains vacant for whenever you so desire to return. It is good to see you well. Travelling suits you as well, as does the sun.”

“House Blaiddyd will receive you with open arms whenever your travels return you to Fodlan,” Byleth said diplomatically. She removed her arm from Dimitri’s so that she could bow to Claude. 

“Hey, hey, none of these stiff formalities either! I didn’t come all this way to talk to a statue!” Claude drove his point home by gathering Dimitri and Byleth in a bone-crushing bug. Both Byleth and Dimitri reciprocated, laughing, unconcerned about any disapproving nobles watching.

Once they had said their farewells, Claude stepped away to join Hilda in reconnecting with their old house members. 

For a moment, Byleth and Dimitri simply stood there, watching Claude’s back fade into the crowd.

Dimitri spoke first, “My beloved, as much as I have enjoyed our wedding festivities, I dearly wish to spend some time with my darling wife now. Is that agreeable to her?”

Byleth slipped her around Dimitri’s arm again, reconnecting them. “That is very agreeable to her. Let us say our farewells before we leave. And Dimitri?”

Dimitri tilted his head in acknowledgement of her address.

“I love you, my darling King. And I am ever so grateful to the Goddess for allowing us this moment and our future together.”

Dimitri pressed a chaste kiss to the crown of Byleth’s head in response, his lips brushing her hairline beneath her new crown. “I love you too, Byleth. Thank you for giving me this happiness that I thought for so long was lost to me.”

~~~

Fluffytalk: This is kind of terrible and I’m embarrassed to be posting this but also I just finished the Blue Lions route. I’m now watching my brother play Golden Deer and I miss my Blue Lions babies and need all the fluff.

[samaya11]

Excerpt from the working manuscript of

The Corner Shop Kids

“But why do you need the orange cheese slices on the sandwich if you already have these round pink cheese slices?” She’d ask. My sister had convinced our dear devoutly Hindu lacto-vegetarian and supremely naive granny or “Ma” to make what I called the “haram” sandwiches of Anchor butter, smoked ham and Red Leicester cheese slabs for her and our brother. I as usual, just watched open mouthed at her boldness and feared for our souls.

“You want one too right, Maya?”She’d slyly wink, her green eyes twinkling with mischief knowing full well I didn’t care for eating flesh.

“How thoughtful Dikra” gran cooed at her.

Turning to me, “Khaa, Khaa Maya! khaavanu pun kaam Kartu jaavanu, hambru? granny would admonish in the same breath making the sandwich I’d give away to a sibling on the pretext of being too full.

Poor granny the tricks my siblings and I would play.

Sneaking in alcohol or sweets from the off-license (liquor store) downstairs was their job. I was usually the look out or the one to climb through small spaces like the bathroom window bars when our parents locked us in. Not that we really had to sneak hard if we wanted a drink now that I think about it. Brandy was always available on the pretext of having a sore throat or a stuffy cold.

“It’s the only thing that clears up their symptoms overnight” granny argued with my Father while she stocked Remy Martin in the cupboards for us to have with Coke as a medicine. That with some Disprin tablets and Vick’s Vapour Rub up the nose or plugging our belly buttons were among her go to home remedies for us. Sometimes a bottle of Lucozade for glucose power to soothe a genuine fever or secret hangover vomiting. For someone who believed so strongly in Ayurvedic foods she embraced some very contemporary practices from whichever country she happened to be in.

Our kitchen was tiny and cramped with both a washer and a dryer, a folded wood dining table and chairs up against the glossy deep red Victorian furnace. Granny was so neat, ran such a tight ship, and took so much pride of the religiously scrubbed sink, the gas oven dismantled constantly for proper cleaning, the patterned linoleum floors swept and mopped with such precision. Under the stairs adjacent to the kitchen was the food pantry that we snuck grannys large disk shaped tablets from. The only thing that wasn’t in her medicine cupboard. I never knew exactly what they were for but they were sour orange and fizzy. We also picked at the tamarind packs a little at time cherished for their sticky mouth puckering tartness. Ofcourse our foolishness would attract mice to Ma’s consternation.

Granny’s fixation for cleanliness extended past physical to her focus on internal & psychic exorcism. She was convinced we needed “najar uttarvanu” to keep the evil eye away, to drinking Khadvaat an utterly foul smelling bitter muddy concoction of torture, which Nills was the champ at holding her nose and downing it in one gulp. I always vomited. I never made it past the first sip which convinced granny I was full of sinful thoughts, possibly demons or worse full of parasitic worms that would infect the others eventually. The laxative tablets she tried to make easy for us. They were hard chocolate tabs wrapped in foil. Shay would hide his in the corners of that kitchen for mice to find, cheered on giggling mad by me and my sister. Until we realised one of us girls would be tasked to clean that liquid mice shit up the next morning not darling curly-haired Prince Shay.

One time I was dared to try Ma’s “tunkhi”from her tiny metal box. I had the easiest access to her supplies being trusted to fetch things for her. It was beige tobacco powder we watched her carefully pinch to her nose once a day. I just coughed and lied hard that it was pretty good and they should try it too, so Shay tried it and gagged, Nills had a nose bleed, the reaction suffer from all her life to foods that triggered her.

At night we all slept in the same room. Shailesh and Nila in the top and bottom bunk beds, me in the twin bed with granny between us to stop the fights at bed time with her impossibly long arms and specifically tuned ears. We had taught Ma the little English she knew and along with that our own definitions. So Tia Maria from the label of a liquor bottle we told her meant good night tofits of hysterical giggles when we made her repeat it back to us.

One night Shay & Nills got drunk. Ma and I had gone to sleep already. She convinced my brother to slap granny in her sleep. He did it and she woke up sputtering awake “hu thiyu? Kyon che? Hu juye?”

For years later we would laugh about the story but i never really thought it was funny. I would always wonder if it was a tiny awakening of morals or just jealousy that I wasn’t included.

Priya Ramesh Desai, 2020 @samaya11

[alicedoessurveys]

Food Tag

1. What’s the last thing you ate? we had a bbq, I had a jacket potato with cheese and some tikka skewers

2. What’s your favourite cheese? mozzarella or red Leicester 

3. What’s your favourite fish? the only fish I eat is tuna and I wouldn't even call that my favourite 

4. What’s your favourite fruit? apple or banana, literally the only fruit I eat 

5. When, if ever, did you start liking olives? never

6. When, if ever, did you start liking beer? don't like beer, cant even stand the smell of it 

7. When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? never

8. What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make? my mom does amazing dirty fries. she cooks them perfectly and adds turkey mince cooking in tomatoes and cheese and omg their just kdjjdsgfdskuhf

9. What’s the native specialty of your hometown? curries- apparently Birmingham is famous for its curries

10. What’s your comfort food? anything hot and covered in cheese, or chocolate 

11. What’s your favourite type of chocolate? ALL the chocolate

12. How do you like your steak? I don't eat red meat 

13. How do you like your burger? with cheese and either ketchup for veggie burger or bbq sauce for chicken burgers

14. How do you like your eggs? I dont eat eggs

15. How do you like your potatoes? baked with lots of butter 

16. How do you take your coffee? don't like coffee

17. How do you take your tea? don't like tea

18. What’s your favourite mug? my “don't let the muggles get you down” mug

19. What’s your biscuit or cookie of choice? oreos

20. What’s your ideal breakfast? cereal

21. What’s your ideal sandwich? cheese -  im seeing a theme with my answers here...

22. What’s your ideal pizza: alllll the cheese, a bit of chicken and some bbq sauce 

23. What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savoury)? chicken and gravy

24. What’s your ideal salad? no thanks

25. What food do you always like to have in the fridge? cheese, milk, some sort of yoghurt dessert

26. What food do you always like to have in the freezer? a supply of veggie food, some ready meals for lazy times, ice cream

27. What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? pasta, cereal, soup, beans 

28. What spices can you not live without? basil, thyme, turmeric, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper

29. What sauces can you not live without? tomato, bbq, curry sauce

30. Where do you buy most of your food? supermarket

31. How often do you go food shopping? not often because I live at home its mostly done by parents, but I like to go get my own stuff every other week. obviously with covid lockdown ive not been at all in months 

33. What’s the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? again, I live with my parents so I don't actually own anything

34. What’s the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? n/a

35. What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? microwave, toastie maker

36. How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? I dont cook meat 

37. What’s the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? again,  I don't cook with meat 

38. What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? the only meat I eat it chicken or turkey 

39. What’s the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? I don't 

40. What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild? I don't 

41. Arrange the following in order of preference: Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Sushi – italian, Chinese, Indian, I don't eat the others 

42. Arrange the following in order of preference: Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy, Rum – rum, thats the only one I drink

43. Arrange the following in order of preference: Garlic, Basil, Lime, Mint, Ginger, Aniseed – basil, garlic, I don't use the others 

44. Arrange the following in order of preference: Pineapple, Orange, Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Watermelon, Banana. – apple, banana, I don't eat the others but flavour wise id go cherry, strawberry, pineapple, watermelon, orange 

45. Bread and spread: bread and butter, thats it. im simple.

46. What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Chinese - chicken in black bean sauce and spicy chips

47. Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you’ve had in that city? London- shake shack do the best cheese fries omg 

48. What’s your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? I don't really have a tipple 

49. What’s the next thing you’ll eat? cereal in the morning 

50. Are you hungry now? no

51. Do you eat your breakfast everyday? when im at home yeah, but work days I tend to skip it because I don't have time 

52. At what time do you have breakfast? around 9/9.30am

53. At what time do you have lunch? between 12-2pm

54. What do you have for lunch? whatever I feel like/whatever I can find 

55. At what time do you have dinner? between 6-8pm

56. What do you have for dinner? whatever my mom cooks

57. Do you light candles during dinner? nope

58. How many chairs are there in your dining room and who sits in the main chair? 4, there isn't a main chair

59. Do you eat and drink using your right hand or the left one? right

61. Mention the veggies that you like most: peas, thats it 

62. What fruit and vegetable do you like the least? all of them 

63. You like your fruit salad to have more: don't eat it

64. You prefer your vegetable salad to contain more: don't eat it 

65. What’s your favourite sandwich spread? cheese, surprise surprise 

66. What’s your favourite chocolate bar? Cadbury dairy milk or galaxy

67. What’s your favourite dessert? brownies

68. What’s your favourite drink? pepsi, or summer fruits squash

69. What’s your favourite snack? don't really have snacks 

70. What’s your favourite bubble gum flavour? don't like it

71. What’s your favourite ice cream flavour? caramel or chocolate 

72. What’s your favourite potato chip flavour? don't like them

73. What’s your favourite soup? tomato

74. What’s your favourite pizza? cheese and tomato 

75. What’s your favourite type of dish? italian? I don't think I understand the question 

76. What food do you hate? fish, rice, veg, 

77. What’s your favourite restaurant? a little local one called ‘Little Italy’ where I go every year on my birthday 

78. Do you eat homemade food, or food delivered from outside? homemade mostly, but we have a lot of takeaway too

80. Who cooks at home? mom mostly, but me and dad do occasionally too

81. What kind of diet (e.g. low-fat, high-fiber, high-carbohydrate, balanced diet etc.) do you have? I think its called the ridiculously unhealthy diet 

82. How do you keep yourself fit? go for a lot of walks, and my job is really active 

[speedybeardconnoisseur]

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[mwsweighing-blog]

Address:     Unit 8B, Drum Industrial Estate Chester-le-Street, County Durham DH2 1SS

Phone:   0191 716 0280 Email:   info@mws.ltd.uk Website: www.mws.ltd.uk

Description:  MWS Weighing Solutions are the UKs leading manufacturer of industrial scales, which is designed and manufactured at the head office in Leicester. MWS also operate an experienced service and calibration department from the Head Office and the North East Service Centre located in County Durham. Calibration is accredited to ISO9001 and ISO17025 for traceability purposes, MWS also adhere to the UK Weighing Federations code of practice for the calibration procedures. MWS Weighing Solutions provide new product inspection equipment such as check weighers, metal detectors and X-Ray contamination systems, as part of the supply testing of checkweighers and metal detectors can be chosen as an additional ongoing service. The journey to MWS Ltd started as Micro Weighing Systems which was established in 1994, by Richard Clarke, a veteran within the weighing industry with as of today (2020) nearly 50 years of experience. In 1997 the business became MWS Ltd and Andrew Clarke the current Managing Director joined as an assembly engineer. Building on the success of the Micro 3000 and 4000 indicators a new range of weighing equipment was developed for the food industry, emphasis was placed on hygiene and design aesthetics, developing simple weighing products with a low cost of long-term ownership has been at the forefront of MWS ethos since the beginning. MWS can count themselves as one of the only UK-based suppliers of weighing scale companies that can design, manufacture, install and maintain weighing equipment – a beginning to end supply process.  

Keywords:   Scale calibration, Scale Repair, weighing solutions, industrial scales, floor scales, axle scales

Hour:       Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm Business Year: 1994 Number of Employee :  25 Payment Method: Credit Card, BACS, Paypal

Twitter :        https://twitter.com/mws_ltd Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/mwsltd/ Linkedin:       https://www.linkedin.com/company/mws-ltd

[onetouchinvestment-blog]

Where are the Best Places to Invest in UK Property in 2019?

2019 is finally upon us and with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, many are apprehensive about investing in the UK property market. We believe that there is still opportunity to be had, if you know where to look. Read on to find out where we think the best places to invest in UK property in 2019 are

With Britain’s impending exit from the European Union, many investors both home and abroad have apprehensions about investing in property in the UK. Surveyors in September 2018 gave their lowest forecast for house prices in three- and twelve-months’ time, and Mark Carney warned that a “no-deal” Brexit could shave up to 35% off house prices.

The effect that Brexit has had so far on the UK housing market seems to be confined to London and high value properties over £2m. The fear of Brexit is heightened across these markets mainly because the financial commitment is so much higher. Across the country, average house prices have continued to rise – mainly propelled by regional markets. It is also worth noting that as the pound continues to fall relative to other currencies, it is then more attractive for overseas buyers to invest in property, thus buoying demand and helping to keep house prices afloat. 

The threat of a “no deal” Brexit and measures put in place to stockpile goods

With the possibility of a no-deal Brexit on the table, companies are taking measures to avoid disruption to their supply chains and have started stockpiling goods. Several companies have already admitted to doing so, including Rolls Royce, Topps Tiles and the food group Nestle. Even without the possible impact Brexit would have, as consumers want goods almost instantaneously companies that sell online have been buying up shed space for storage.

Demand for UK industrial real estate remains strong. Distribution units and multi-let portfolios have continued to perform well as volumes hit £3.6bn which is roughly 13% of all commercial investment activity in the UK according to data from JLL. Strong demand has been underpinned by the positive market conditions and popularity of ecommerce.

These warehouses are mainly located in the midlands as it makes sense to be able to access all parts of the United Kingdom with ease. Amazon for example currently has 13 warehouses in the UK, including one in Coalville, one in Daventry and one in Milton Keynes. Another such example is Panattoni Park, where more than 1.6 million sq. ft of industrial and warehouse units available in Q4 of 2019 will be developed close to Northampton. Industrial units are also planned for the green belt around Coventry Airport, which will also include foot and cycle paths and a community park.

With the increase in warehouse activity, it makes sense that as they expand, they are looking for new recruits. This makes property in certain midlands towns such as Northampton and Leicester in the east and Coventry in the west more appealing.

Northampton

Currently Northampton is one of the best places to invest in UK property and this is proven by homes in the town selling on average in 33 days, making it one of the quickest in the country for house sales. This indicates a high demand – possibly from those who are moving to the area for work. This has led to house prices in Northampton rising by 5.3% in the year to October 2018 – a larger increase than the national average.

Leicester

Another place in the midlands which has seen and is expected to see more growth is Leicester. Leicester bucked the trend for house price fall reporting the best year-on-year growth for property prices in any large UK city and has also been named the best city in the UK to invest in property according to Hometracks Cities House price index.

Property prices in Leicester have increased by over 250% since 2000, and with its ideal midland location and promised future regeneration and investment of £3bn, Leicester will only become a more attractive option for property investment. We tip Leicester to be a property hotspot in 2019 as London can be reached in just over an hour, and Birmingham is just under an hour away by train making it convenient for those who commute into work.

Warrington

Situated between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, Warrington is another place that is worth considering with regards to property investment in the UK. An Amazon warehouse is in the town, and Omega have revealed plans to build 758,000sq ft of speculative warehousing. With the promise of new warehousing space, new jobs will be created, and employees will be looking for somewhere to live. This could be an ideal time to invest in property in Warrington, to accommodate those employees who might rent initially but settle and choose to buy – which could create a good level of capital uplift.

Many are considering Warrington for an investment property over nearby Liverpool and Manchester due to the more accessible housing market as well as house prices in the town being considerably lower than its big city neighbors. This makes Warrington a great location to buy a house in 2019, especially for young professionals working in the cities or those looking to start a family.

Coventry

Coventry is one of the best places in the UK in terms of house price growth. Since the turn of the century house prices in Coventry have risen by over 250%, and it was the only town or city in the west midlands to make the list according to HouseSimple.  

Coventry also offers landlords excellent rental yields – some of the highest in the country thus making it one of the best buy-to-let areas in the UK. Average net rental yield excluding tax is around 5.40%, and only 5 other places in the UK come ahead of it according to Private Finance. The excellent yields are complimented by great occupancy rates especially by students as the City has a two extremely popular Universities which have a combined enrolment of over 50,000 students.

Halifax

Yorkshire is a well-located county and as a result, it is home to many distribution centres. Many corporations such as Aldi, Lidl, John Lewis, Morrisons and DPD have distribution centres set in Yorkshire.

Halifax was recently named by LendInvest as one of the best places to invest in property for buy to let. This is in part due to the number of businesses operating in the area, including McVities and Nestle, and its proximity to the distribution centres. This combined with affordable housing is why many people decide to lay down roots in the town, as the average house price in Halifax is £149,925. This is cheaper than nearby Northowram, Hipperholme and Shelf, making it an attractive alternative to workers who are priced out of the surrounding areas.

Halifax also has superb connections. It is situated just 30 minutes away from the Peak District and trains run to Leeds every 15 minutes and Manchester every 30 minutes. It is also just a 15-minute train ride away from Bradford and Hebden Bridge. This makes it a convenient choice for those who commute to work but want affordable accommodation.

One opportunity to invest in the Halifax buy to let market is in the H1 development. H1 is in the popular West Parade area and the town centre is just a short walk away. The development is a contemporary collection of one-bedroom apartments starting at £66,995. Features include anti-slip vinyl flooring and built in appliances. What makes this development particularly attractive is how affordable the apartments are. Priced under £70,000, there is a flexible payment plan in place which means that £1,814.45 can be paid monthly for 24 months and then there are three years to pay the balance after completion. A gross rental yield of 8% is predicted per annum.

Last-mile logistics and how that affects real estate in surrounding towns

The last mile is often referred to the last step in the delivery chain before goods arrive with the consumer. As people are wanting their goods delivered quickly and efficiently, companies are shifting their focus to the last mile and targeting sites close to urban areas. With good access to the M25, Essex is convenient for distributing goods to outlets along the perimeter of the capital. Next PLC has already announced plans to buy land near Waltham Abbey and Amazon has a warehouse in Tilbury – both in Essex.

The emergence of last mile warehouses close to urban areas will bring jobs. As living in cities can be expensive, some may choose to live closer to where they work, and as demand rises this will catapult the popularity of the surrounding area.

Colchester

One Essex town that has experienced phenomenal property growth is Colchester. The town is one of the best places to buy a house in the UK as it has great transport links, schools and amenities.  In the last three years, prices have increased by on average £55,000 according to Housesimple.com. LendInvest also carried out research and ranked Colchester as the best place for a buy to let investment when it considered factors such as capital growth, rental yield and rental price growth.

The struggle of the high street and plans to stimulate growth

Other places that may be up for consideration for property investment include those which are due to experience town and city centre regeneration. It should be of no surprise to learn that the high street has been struggling for a while. Debenhams has announced branch closures, as have House of Fraser. Re-negotiating leases with landlords has become common and made retail investing unattractive since the folding of BHS.

Intu, a British Real Estate Investment Trust which focussed on shopping centre management and development has faced troubles with regards to profitability of the centres. A £2.8bn takeover bid was launched by the Peel Group and, even though it fell through, it highlights the struggle of the high street as consumers switch to making online purchases.

Plans have been put in place to stimulate growth in the high street and rejuvenate areas which are not doing so well. Philip Hammond proposed plans in the Budget to save the high street by cutting business rates of retailers with a rateable value of £51,000 or less by a third from April 2019. He also slapped a 2% digital services tax on large digital firms with a turnover of more than £500m to hopefully ease competition. The chancellor also committed to a new Future High Streets Fund, where councils can redevelop abandoned and underused retail and commercial space into residential units. A partner in Cushman & Wakefield, Ian Anderson said of the scheme “the government is right to use planning policy to bring more employment and residential uses to our high streets, which can no longer afford to be so dependent on retail.”

Milton Keynes

This will help revitalise towns such as Milton Keynes where the town centre is largely dominated by its shopping centre. Recently the go-ahead was given to start work on one of the most significant retail and leisure developments in central Milton Keynes in over a decade. The development will include a boutique cinema, a dining area, new shops and public spaces. Certain spots will be redeveloped to improve the ambience and make them more welcoming. New landscaped areas and public spaces will give families and employees in the area a nice spot to relax and spend their lunch breaks.

Milton Keynes has always performed well when it comes to house price growth and there are no signs of it slowing in 2019. According to Hometrack, Milton Keynes comes in the top ten of places where house prices are rising the fastest. Now could be a good time to invest for those looking for good levels of capital uplift, as house prices will only increase once the rejuvenation work has been completed.

Edinburgh

Although Edinburgh’s high street may not be ailing, it is also undergoing a certain level of city centre regeneration. One such example is an £850m new Edinburgh St James project, which will comprise 850,000 square feet of retail space centred around a luxury hotel.  

Edinburgh’s economy was one of the fastest growing in the UK last year and these fundamentals have had a positive effect on its desirability. The picturesque Scottish capital ranked top in a new study commissioned by the Royal Mail into the best places to live and work in the UK, due to its vast green spaces and access to education and healthcare. Other factors include its cultural offerings such as libraries and theatres, job opportunities and business activity.

The appeal of living in Edinburgh has not gone unnoticed. Property prices in the Scottish capital have risen by 7.70% between January 17 and January 18 and research by Hometrack has predicted that they will continue to rise by 30% by 2022.  

Property investment in London is still viable – if one knows where to look

Although London house prices are expected to be most affected by Britain’s exit from the EU, there are still pockets of London that could prove profitable for property investment – if one knows where to look.

Leytonstone (London Borough of Waltham Forest)

North east London has been touted by almost a third of landlords as being the best place to invest in London property. They especially look for property near underground lines, with the Central line proving the most popular.

Leytonstone is one of London’s up and coming areas and it is situated in the London Borough of Waltham Forest which sits on the Central line on the boundary of zone 3-4. Although Waltham Forest was an Olympic borough and received certain levels of regeneration, it never really hit Leytonstone; but that could all be due to change.

Younger people are increasingly moving to outer boroughs in London due to the fact they can get more space for their money. The increase in desirability has been reflected in house prices, which have increased by 83% over five years in the London borough of Waltham Forest.

Having said this, prices in the borough remain relatively affordable in London terms with an average property price of £462,000, which is below the overall London average of £629,012 for 2018 (according to figures from Rightmove).

For those looking at the best places to invest in property UK 2019, look to the midlands and areas with industrial investment

In conclusion, we are predicting that with the shift from the high street to online, towns and cities close to warehouse distribution centres will grow in popularity. As a result, property prices in these towns and cities will increase as they become more desirable. We recommend the best places to invest in UK property in 2019 to be key towns and cities in the east and west midlands, Colchester, Edinburgh and Milton Keynes. Edinburgh is one of the most desirable places to live in the UK, and its booming economy is attracting more workers to the city, which is reflected in its rising house prices. Places such as Milton Keynes should benefit from Philip Hammond’s new initiative to revitalise high streets, and key towns and cities in the east and west midlands will benefit from the development of new warehouse space.

We predict that these places would be the most lucrative for buy to let investments. Different measurements are used to predict the best places for student accommodation investments, so subscribe to our newsletter to find out if student property investments are still viable and where the top places to consider are.

[pofcroyalfanfiction]

Outrunning Her Shadow - Prologue

Ordinarily Josie would be excited about staying in London for a few days, especially in the summer time. There were so many things she could do compared to back home in Bucklebury, so many places to see, so many photos to take. A trip to London always felt like a mini holiday, travelling in on the train from Reading which she always loved, hitting up all the big tourist spots in London, having drinks and food at some bar along the South Bank, seeing a movie in Leicester Square in the evening.

Any time she'd ever gone down to London she had had an amazing, fun filled day, but today was different.

Josie stepped off the train behind her family, lugging her suitcase along with her. She'd packed it with clothes and the usual essentials for a short trip, but she'd also packed a few other supplies. Cardboard, large sheets of paper, paint, glitter, brushes and a signed, neatly sealed letter.

She expected most people around her on the crowded platform at Paddington Station carried something similar, letters, placards or flowers. Josie could tell, for certain, that everyone was feeling the same way, upset, confused, concerned... broken. Thousands of people from different ages, races, genders and ethnicities, all feeling the same way.

No, Josie was not excited to be in London this time around. In fact, she couldn't remember a time where she'd arrived in the capital feeling so terrible, but how else could she feel when she was going to see a state funeral?

This was the first state funeral in twenty-six years and the first time a monarch had died in seventy-six years. Josie wasn't even alive the last time Britain had endured something so crushing, but it still hit her just as hard as anyone else.

Some people were apathetic towards the Royal Family, but Josie was a self-confessed fanatic. She could understand why others may not care or just outright dislike the royals. They were an outdated tradition, largely ceremonial and holding no real power in the country. They controlled vast amounts of wealth and yet ordinary citizens like her paid taxes to keep the monarchy going.

Josie found it hard to argue with them. Everything that was said against the royals was true. Josie would say they bring in heap loads of cash in tourism, that they support charities and causes that otherwise wouldn't be well known. The truth was Josie looked up to the royal family, she idolised them. She had a whole blog dedicated to them. Britain without the royal family was like Japan without the Samurai history, France without the Eiffel Tower, Brazil without Carnivale, America without American Football. To Josie, Britain without the royal family would just be... Britain, a country.

They were a huge part of the countries identity, and without them Josie felt her idea of Britain would be lost. She wasn't exactly patriotic but having the royal family around was something she was proud to support, without them there wasn't much in her country that made it feel stable, consistent.

That was why today was so hard. She could feel the anti-monarchy movement building. With Elizabeth dead, Charles had become King, and Charles just didn't have the same popularity as his mother. Most of the peoples' love went to the younger royals, William, Kate, Harry and Emma, along with all their children. They were the royals that people loved to hear about, they were the royals that Josie and her friends gushed over on their blogs. Charles was nice, but he just wasn't as appealing to young people.

She respected the fact that Charles was the next in line, but many people around the world didn't. Many people felt this was the right time to get rid of the monarchy. Rather than spend money on a big coronation for Charles, just end it here. Just close this entire chapter of British history altogether. Josie was having none of it.

There wasn't much she could do to ensure the future of the monarchy as just a lowly teenage girl from Bucklebury, but she dreamed of becoming a journalist and a future royal reporter, reporting on all the great things the family were doing. She often fantasised about getting to meet her favourite royals and interviewing them. First Emma, the Duchess of Sussex, who Josie had loved since her acting days, and then Princess Eleanor of Cambridge, the firstborn daughter of William and Kate and Josie's more recent favourite.

"Josie, come on!" Her mother called. The family was waiting for her on the other side of the ticket barrier.

"Coming mum!" Josie called back, rushing down the platform.

Ever since she met Eleanor in a Tesco superstore in the middle of Bucklebury, completely casual, no tiaras or paparazzi, Josie's love of the royals had gone into overdrive. Eleanor had been so normal, so down to earth, even a little shy. She was there shopping with her mum like two ordinary commoners, she was relatable. Josie felt they could have even been friends.

That was a big reason why she'd convinced her whole family to come down and attend the funeral. None of them were as fierce monarchists as her, but they weren't completely anti-monarchy either. They would have been perfectly happy to watch the funeral on the television where they'd arguably see it better, but Josie wanted to go in person because to her, Eleanor was a friend.

This was a time for everyone to come together. That was Josie's thinking. So, she'd convinced her entire family to catch an early train from Reading and spend a few days in London, to join the packed crowds of the city and show their support.

After checking in at their hotel, Josie, her parents and her younger brother headed out. They got on the Underground at Waterloo and got out at St James's Park, making their way from there to the gates of Buckingham Palace. They were able to buy white lilies along the way at a news stand, where all the front-page headlines were about the Queen. They were also selling flags, but there were enough union jack flags everywhere, on hats, on jackets and on banners and placards of support. Josie was happy with the flowers and a little letter that she'd addressed to the entire royal family. After making their purchases they joined the crowds that were all converging on the same point, all moving in the same direction as if they were on a pilgrimage to a holy site. There didn't seem to be anyone heading in the opposite directions, off to work or somewhere else. Everyone was there for the same reason.

Even on a hot summery day there wasn't a person who was just lying down in the park. Everyone was moving towards the same point. When they arrived on The Mall the crowds were even thicker. The long red road was channelling thousands of people towards the great gates of Buckingham Palace, where the royal standard flew to indicate that the monarch was in residence.

The atmosphere was quiet, contemplative. The people around her were all in mourning, all in shock. Josie had her tributes ready, but from the looks of things it would take ages to get to the front and have the chance to lay them at the gates of the palace. She needed to climb up the steps of the Victoria Memorial to see better, only then was it clear.

The tributes, a massive variety of colourful flowers, notes, handmade signs, photographs and candles, there were so many of them, so dense that they completely covered the hard ground outside the palace fences and severely restricted where people could walk. They covered the roads so that the entire area was a no go for traffic, they even went as far as touching the Victoria Memorial itself. The only open space was a path that had been cleared from the palace gate itself, and then the palace forecourt behind them.

"It's like Diana all over again." Her mother remarked. There were nods of agreement from dozens of mourners around her.

"Hang on, there's some movement."

Josie looked up, watching the windows of the palace up ahead. She saw a few curtains shift on the upper floors, but nothing obvious. She struggled to see straight ahead to the ground level, instead having to rely on what people were saying.

"Look! The gates are opening!"

"They're coming out!"

"Who do you see? Who do you see?" Josie asked desperately. The crowd around her were all pushing forwards, just as eager to see as her.

"Looks like Charles, and I think maybe William, and one of the young girls." Someone said.

Moments ago, people had been turning up, paying their respects and then making their way back through the crowd to leave, but there was no chance of that happening now. Everyone wanted to be at the front, everyone wanted a chance to hand their gifts directly to one of the royals, to be able to see them up closes, to even be able to speak with them. Josie knew she'd never get the chance, there were still masses of people in front of her and this definitely wasn't the place to start yelling for attention.

She heard their voices as they got closer. From what she could hear from the crowd's reactions, the royals were browsing the letters, making their way along the outside of the palace, collecting flowers and thanking people for being there. Josie kept straining to see, peaking between arms, jumping to see above heads and shoulders. She wasn't the only one.

It was Ellie up ahead, out with her father and grandfather. Josie could feel the warmth of the crowd, a sort of protectiveness of a worried parent, all of it being directed towards the royals. She started to hear Ellie speaking as the people quietened, all eager to hear her. She sounded upbeat, from what Josie could hear. Thanking the people and calmly reflecting back their words of encouragement.

It wasn't the shy Eleanor that Josie remembered from Bucklebury, but then again it had been three years. Three years in which the young Princess had rarely been seen in public, instead being closely guarded while at boarding school, a fact that Josie and her royal blogger friends knew all too well.

The three royals didn't stay out for long however. Soon they were heading back through the gates and across the forecourt, then disappearing back into Buckingham Palace while everyone in the crowd spoke of feeling uplifted by how friendly and approachable the royals had been.

It took another hour before Josie could get to the front and lay down her gifts with all the others, and by then the sun was starting to set. She waited to see if any more royals would appear and watched all the palace windows closely, but nobody came out. Josie's mum eventually convinced her to head back to the hotel with the family.

Later that night Josie was on her laptop, sharing some photos on her blog that she'd taken of the immense crowds in central London and down the Mall. She'd taken some outside Buckingham Palace but all they showed were people's backs. None of them were good angles of Charles, William or Ellie.

The whole fandom was in overdrive, blogging like crazy. All Josie could see after hours of scrolling was photo upon photo of London, the crowds, the memorials, the mourning, Elizabeth tributes and pictures of various royals. She stayed up late into the night talking with her friends, answering questions about what it was like to be in London in that moment and what the royals were like. She struggled to find the words to describe the day and eventually gave up, telling her followers that she'd come back with more soon.

The next morning, Josie and her Mum lined up with crowds along Westminster Bridge. What felt like the entire population of London had queued up and were quietly shuffling towards the Palace of Westminster where the Queen's body was lying in state.

The roads were mostly quiet, even in what was normally such a busy tourist area of the city. Only a few buses and cars were passing them by, but they were hardly noticed, even the big red double decker buses. Everyone was in their own worlds or quietly chatting in their groups, just as the crowds were the day before.

It probably would have felt different if Josie's parents had gotten a hotel room that was a bit further away from central London, where all the funeral events were taking place, but even then, the round the clock coverage in the news would be enough to put them all in the same mood. Josie could tell her family were a bit moody about having to spend their time focused within a small area of London that was the center of millions of people's worth of grief and sadness, but she honestly felt that this was where she wanted to be. She needed to be part of it.

The rest of her family didn't feel so strongly, so her dad and brother had gone sightseeing instead while her mum stayed with her.

Being inside Westminster Hall was probably one of the most surreal experiences of Josie's life. What little chatter that had been going on outside quickly died down as they entered the grounds. The whole area was usually closed off to the public, but for something as huge as the Queen's death they were willing to allow people in, although it was still heavily guarded. Thousands of people were streaming into the heart of the British government, so it would be surprising if she didn't see a whole lot of armed soldiers keeping a close eye on things.

Josie had never been in the midst of such high security, whilst also being surrounded by such history, sadness and grief. Combined with the fact that this was such a world changing event, the biggest that she could remember, it made sure that nobody had any idea what to do with themselves. Josie held her mum's hand as they entered the building, almost fearing what would come next.

Inside the Hall was a wide-open expanse, with a high centuries old ceiling which directed all the light towards one specific spot, the spot where the Queen's coffin rested. It was covered in the royal standard, a flag that bore three English lions, the red lion of Scotland and the golden harp of Ireland. On top of the standard was a single flickering candle which cast an eerie glow over the whole thing.

The strangest part of all were the royals that were standing vigil all around the coffin, dressed in black and staring solemnly down at the ground. Josie recognised all four of the Queen's children, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew were there wearing their Royal Navy uniforms, Princess Anne as well and Prince Edward. They stood at the four corners of the raised platform, their backs to the coffin that was lying on a podium behind them.

Josie couldn't help but feel like it was all very old fashioned, she wanted to be able to speak to the royals, but she couldn't. All anyone could do was respectfully and quietly make their way around the vigil, paying their respects and enjoying the presence of Queen Elizabeth one last time.

It was grim and heart wrenching to be so close and to see the thinly disguised emotions of the Queen's children right in front of her. She could tell they were all going through an incredibly rocky time in the family, and at times Josie thought that Charles was barely keeping it together. The whole thing felt unfair, even though she knew that the royals didn't have to stand vigil, it still felt like something they were forced to do.

By the time she made the final turn to start heading outside, Josie could feel tears running down her cheeks. The atmosphere inside the hall was so overwhelming with emotion, with the walls effectively containing an immeasurable amount of sadness. She saw the light of day just up ahead, but more royals caught her eye.

High up above, watching the vigil from a secluded perch, Josie spotted what must have been Kate, Alex and Ellie, all dressed in black with their faces hidden behind veils. With Prince William standing beside them, the three women surely couldn't have been anyone else.

Josie didn't get to look at them for long as the crowd continued to move, forcing her to move with them. She stepped out into the sunlight just wishing she could go back inside and get another peek, disregarding the completely crushing atmosphere that the hall was overflowing with.

"That was just dreadful." Her mother said, wiping her eyes.

"It must be so horrible to stand up there like that." Josie told her. "I couldn't do it."

The next morning Josie left the hotel on her own and travelled up to Kensington Palace. She had loved the royal family for a long time, loved reading about them, loved blogging about them. She'd gone to dozens of events to see them in person, but now she was starting to worry her obsession was being overwhelmed by so many frequent sightings.

It was another day until the funeral procession, so she gave her family the day off from grieving so that she could be alone, allowing her to embrace her love of the royals without any judgement. Her parents didn't talk to her much about it, but her brother was often joking about her interest, although he'd thankfully not said a word against them whilst the family had been in London.

He would probably be shouted away if he did make any jokes, that much was clear as Josie walked across Kensington Gardens towards the palace. The whole area felt like a sacred shrine just like Buckingham Palace, except there were far less tributes and the roads weren't blocked.

Josie placed down more flowers outside the gates, beside hundreds of other tributes that were honouring the Queen and supporting the other royals. She had to gingerly tip toe between candles and gifts that had been laid out to get her flowers lying next to all the rest. The bouquet of violets was, according to rumour, Princess Eleanor's favourite flower, so she wanted to get them as close to the gates as possible.

Josie wanted to put her letter down too, a more personal one that she'd written just for Eleanor herself, but as she looked around at the thousands of letters that were already there it became clear that none of the royals would ever read her letter. It would probably be read by the staff, or never even opened at all.

Instead Josie stuck with the desperate hope that she might meet Ellie face to face once again, where she'd would be able to give her the letter in person and tell her how much she and the royals meant to her.

She decided to do a bit of sightseeing, wanting to enjoy her time in London whilst she was there and pretend her plan wasn't incredibly stalkerish. Josie figured that the royals would likely want to get some fresh air, away from everything that was going on in the family. She also knew that William and Kate had been spotted walking in Kensington Gardens before, as well as Eleanor, Alex, Emma and Harry. It would have to be a massive stroke of luck to find a royal in the massive park, but Josie was feeling lucky.

She started off by enjoying her inner history nerd, journeying to each of the monuments of former kings and queens that were dotted around Hyde Park. Each one had its own collection of tributes, even if the monuments themselves weren't for Queen Elizabeth. Josie could understand wanting to avoid her offerings getting lost in the masses, but laying flowers and candles in front of the Albert memorial seemed a bit out of place.

I guess that, as distant as it may be, they are all related.

Josie finished her tour at the Diana memorial, a large egg-shaped fountain that seemed completely out of place when compared to Albert's massive statue beneath a gothic pagoda, but it seemed to fit Diana perfectly. Kids loved to play in the water and jump from one side to the other, and the drastically different style was exactly how people thought of her when she was alive. Diana had changed the royal family immensely, and everyone loved her for it. Now it seemed like a good place for everyone to gather and reflect as more big changes were about to hit the country.

"Josie? Is that you?"

Josie looked to see where the voice was coming from. Almost immediately a girl was sitting beside her and smiling broadly at her. She was wearing a baseball cap that was pulled tightly down, and she was dressed casually in a normal pair of shorts and a t-shirt. To anyone she would have been completely inconspicuous, with the red maple leaf on her cap enough to throw anyone off, but Josie recognised her voice straight away.

"Oh my god." Josie whispered, almost fainting. She felt her heart skip a beat.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked her, sitting down on the grass beside her.

"It's really you." Josie was on the verge of tears, and for once it was for a good reason.

"We've met before, ya know." Ellie smirked at her. She seemed so relaxed, even jokey.

"Yes, yes, I remember." Josie reached across to hug her, but quickly stopped herself. She didn't want to overstep the boundaries. Ellie stared at her, confused. Her arms were up and ready to hug back, she was ready for it. She even seemed hurt that Josie had stopped herself. A moment passed and instead of Josie excitedly hugging her idol, Ellie hugged her back just as if they were good friends.

I can't believe this is happening again.

"It's nice to see you again." Ellie told her.

Josie was blown away by how much Eleanor had grown in three years. Josie was supposed to be older than her, like she had done the last time they had met, but now she couldn't help but feel a bit small and overawed by her presence. Ellie seemed so different to when Josie had last met her in person.

"I didn't think I'd see you out in public again. Especially not now. What are you doing out here?" Josie asked. She looked around at the masses of people that were in the park, the people walking past them and within inches of a real-life Princess. Did any of them know that Diana's granddaughter was sitting at the memorial with them? And how uncomfortable must Ellie be feeling right now?

"Trying not to be so awkward anymore." Ellie looked around, adjusting her cap and avoiding eye contact with anyone but her. Josie could tell she was nervous, but it didn't seem as bad as before.

"Dads been helping me with my anxiety." Ellie pointed to a tall and majestic man that was sitting in the middle of the egg, also dressed in casual summer clothes and sporting sunglasses and a baseball cap. He seemed to just be sitting, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere like everyone else.

"He's been coming out to the memorial a lot over the last few days and I wanted to join him." Ellie told her.

"No guards?" Josie looked around, trying to find a well disguised protection officer.

"No guards." Ellie smiled proudly, quite smug about it.

"Wow, you've really come far." Josie grinned back at her, surprising herself. She could feel her body starting to relax.

"Definitely." Ellie seemed comfortable sitting next to her, like she had an ally. Josie couldn't help but feel fiercely protective of her. She'd fought in Ellie's corner online whenever the haters would criticise her for not appearing in public, today was no different. If only she could think of more things to say. She felt like Ellie was reaching out, but what do you say to a Princess?

"Oh! How are you and the family doing?" Josie asked. She needed to remember that as much as the world had lost a Queen, the royals had also lost a massive part of their family.

"We're getting there. Dad and Grandpa are taking it the hardest but I'm helping them out where I can."

Josie couldn't help but feel proud. Ellie was definately someone worth sticking up for in the online forums.

"I want you to know that everyone is with you. Everyone I've spoken with is ready to help you get through this."

"Thanks, Joze"  Ellie said gratefully. Josie shivered with excitement at that. "It really means a lot. We went outside the palace yesterday and the support was just... overwhelming."

"I was there, you handled it really well." Did she just give me a new nickname? God, now I MUST change my blog title.

"Yeah, just about. Sorry I missed you."

"Don't worry about it." Josie patted her hand reassuringly.

"So, what are you doing now? Still in Bucklebury?" Ellie asked, taking out her phone from a back pocket.

Josie couldn't help but steal a glance at Ellie's contacts. It was intoxicating. For years she'd run a blog and obsessed over the royal family, but always from a distance, always dreaming of feeling closer to them. Now she could see 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' on the phone of Princess Eleanor and know exactly who they are. It was wild.

Is there even a point to running a royal blog anymore? I just feel like I know so much already.

"Oh, yeah." Josie remembered to answer. "But I'm studying Journalism at Reading Uni."

"Awesome. Maybe you'll end up being the next big royal reporter?" Ellie smiled at her.

"Hope so!" Josie said coyly. She decided not to ask for a job at the palace.

"Hey, why don't you give me your number? We can meet up again when we're both back in Bucklebury." Ellie suggested, holding her phone out to Josie.

"Holy shit! Really?" Josie blurted out, immediately blushing.

Ellie laughed back at her. "Yeah, why not? Otherwise it'll probably be another three years till we see each other."

"Of course, definitely." Josie hurriedly obeyed like it was a command, but, it seemed much more like Ellie was just eager to be friends. Josie's fingers trembled as she took Ellie's phone and started typing in her number, resisting the urge to explore all her contacts and even browse her photos. She was a swipe of a finger away from what could have been the cutest family photos that she could ever hope to find.

I can't believe she trusts me so much. So many people online would kill to have this much access.

"Time to go Ellie." Josie's heart skipped another beat. Prince William stood imposingly above them and helped Ellie get to her feet. His warm smile had Josie frozen in her spot.

"Dad, meet my friend Josie." Ellie helped her up and presented her to Will proudly.

"Lovely to meet you Josie. Short for Josephine right?"

"Hiiii, yes. But everyone calls me Josie" Josie nervously mumbled back, her cheeks turning red.

"Dont embarrass her Dad." Ellie shoved her father's meaty arm. It barely moved.

"Hah, well sorry to break things up girls, but we really need to be heading off." He looked at her apologetically.

"Of course. Definitely. Yeah." Josie signalled it was okay, blushing even more as she handed Ellie's phone back to her. They had barely walked more than two steps before she blurted out again. "Oh, sorry! Wait!"

She searched through her bag, desperately looking for her letter to Ellie, not realising in her nervous rush that she was looking straight at it. Josie detected a hint of irritation in Will's face as she handed her letter to Ellie, who took it gratefully.

"I was holding out hope I could give this to you in person, and here we are." Josie laughed, trying to keep her cool and appear relaxed, but struggling.

Both Ellie and William were growing more conscious of the attention they were getting. Several people around were starting to recognise them, and the whispers started circulating.

"Thanks Josie, thank you. Hope to see you again!" Ellie waved at her, going along with her dad. It was clear that neither of them wanted to cause a scene.

Josie watched as they hurriedly walked off and disappeared into the park before a crowd formed. Then she watched in satisfaction as a few paparazzo's arrived not long after, obviously following a tip off and just missing the royals. They looked around, questioning people at the memorial and looking stumped.

Better luck next time losers.

On the final day of her family trip to London, Josie stood on the edge of the Mall awaiting the funeral procession that would pass them on its way to Paddington Station. From there the Queen's body would be taken by train to Windsor Castle and buried there, but all that would be much more private. She had been able to watch the funeral from super screens that had been set up in the parks, and now waited for the mass of soldiers, foreign royals, dignitaries and family members that would escort the Queen on her way.

While the thousands of people in the crowds waited, they listened to the one hundred and four gun artillery salute that was echoing throughout London whilst Big Ben tolled along with them. It was one for every year of the Queen's life, and for the first time that week Josie quickly realised how old the Queen really was. When they got to seventy, she heard someone in the crowd surprisedly say "Really, how old was she?". Everyone truly thought she was ageless.

When the salute was finally over, anticipation in the crowd slowly grew as the procession started making its way from Westminster Abbey. Josie could feel it, like a sadder alternate version of a Mexican wave, as she watched the screens and saw the procession turn onto the Mall. The crowds around her pushed against the barriers and the people in front, including herself, as they were all eager to see.

A parade of horse guards came first, followed by the guardsmen wearing their bright red uniforms and bearskin caps, who were then followed by the slow-moving gun carriage that carried the Queen. The guards that lined the sides of the road saluted as the coffin moved past, and hundreds of onlookers bowed their heads or removed their hats. Everyone was in almost complete silence, the only noise coming from the clopping of horse hooves and the slow trudging of the people in the procession.

Behind the Queen's coffin looked like a carbon copy of Diana's funeral in 1997. Elizabeth's four children, just as they had done at the vigil, were staying close to their mother's body, walking slowly behind it all the way to the station. William and Harry joined them as well, but there was no sign of the women. They followed behind, hidden away inside stately cars. It was hard to recognise Ellie, sitting in the back of a car with her family and dressed fully in black. Compared to the girl that Josie met in the park the day before, the one sitting inside that car along with her mother, sister, aunt and cousin James was someone completely different.

After them came more royals than she could count. Josie was familiar with most of the royal families of Europe through following other blogs who weren't so Britain focused. She loved seeing the foreign royals there supporting the Brits, but soon enough she stopped recognising faces and the whole thing became much less interesting.

The crowds started to dissipate not long after and by the evening the entire Mall was empty, with just tributes left behind and candles still burning, which made the long red road glow and flicker in a warm orange light. The past nine days had brought seemingly the whole world together into one spot to share their grief, but now they were all gone.

Josie could feel the unease that was starting to build just as she and her family were getting on the train to go home. People were already talking about Charles now being king, and morbidly joking about how long he would last. The monarchy needed something good to happen, but Josie knew that Charles was nowhere near as popular as his mother. Elizabeth had held majority support for most of her reign, Charles couldn't hope to repeat that.

And then, with a big expensive coronation on the way for a moderately popular monarch, now would be the best time for those anti-monarchists to rise up and get their way.

[duckworth35willumsen-blog]

Aquaman

Aquaman is a 2018 American superhero film based mostly on the DC Comics character of the identical identify, distributed by Warner Bros. Images. It is the sixth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by James Wan, with a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, from a story by Geoff Johns, Wan and Beall, it stars Jason Momoa as the title character, with Amber Listened to, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Kidman in supporting roles. It is the 3rd stay-motion theatrical film showcasing the title character, adhering to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017) and the very first full-duration function movie centered all around the character. In Aquaman, Arthur Curry, the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, must stage ahead to direct his folks against his fifty percent-brother, Orm, who seeks to unite the seven underwater kingdoms from the area planet. Growth of an Aquaman film began in 2004, with many plans falling by way of over the several years. In August 2014, Beall and Kurt Johnstad ended up employed to create two competing scripts and the movie was officially announced in October 2014. Wan signed on as director in April 2015 and in July 2016 it was introduced the film would transfer forward with Beall's screenplay, despite the fact that Wan, Johnstad, Johns and Johnson-McGoldrick all done a variety of rewrites. The major cast was confirmed through 2016 and early 2017. Principal images commenced in Australia on Might two, 2017. Most of the movie was shot at Village Roadshow Studios in Gold Coastline, Queensland, with generation also held in Canada, Italy and Morocco, and wrapped on October 21, 2017. Aquaman experienced its entire world premiere in London on November 26, 2018, and is scheduled to be introduced in the United States by Warner Bros. Photographs in Real D 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX and IMAX 3D on December 21, 2018.

Synopsis

Arthur Curry, the unwilling ruler of Atlantis and King of the 7 Seas, finds himself caught between a floor globe continually ravaging the sea and Atlanteans looking to lash out in revolt, but dedicated to protecting the total world.

Development

In 2004, FilmJerk.com reported that Sunrise Entertainment's Alan and Peter Riche planned to deliver Aquaman to the massive display screen for Warner Bros. with Robert Ben Garant writing the screenplay. Even so, the movie fell via. In July 2009, it was described that Aquaman was in advancement at Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way. Warner chairman and CEO Barry Meyer explained that the Aquaman film was in improvement. A supply from Warner Bros. instructed The Wrap that they had been discussing the possibilities, with the point out of far more Man of Metal movies as properly as a Superman/Batman movie, a Question Girl film, and an Aquaman movie.[28][29][30] Geoff Johns advised Range that Aquaman is a priority character for the business. It was announced on August twelve, 2014, that Warner Bros. had employed screenwriters Will Beall and Kurt Johnstad to pen two different scripts for an forthcoming Aquaman movie. The movie was being developed on dual tracks, meaning that two scripts have been composed, a single by Beall and 1 by Johnstad, but only the better version would move ahead. On April 10, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter described that James Wan was the frontrunner to direct the film. In June 2015, Wan was verified to immediate the film and forget the screenplay by Johnstad. On November twelve, 2015, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick was hired to compose the script, even so it was unclear whether he would be creating a individual script or working with Wan. It was then exposed that preceding script ideas had been scrapped and that equally Wan and Johns planned to move forward with a new script written by screenwriter Will Beall. Later on, Johnson-McGoldrick was brought back again to the venture to operate on a rewrite of Beall's script. On March 2016, it was announced that the occasions of Aquaman will be established right after Justice League. Wan confirmed later on Twitter that cinematographer Don Burgess, who beforehand labored with Wan on The Conjuring 2, will provide as cinematographer for Aquaman. Pre-production commenced in Australia in late November 2016.

Casting

On Oct 20, 2014, in an interview with ComicBook.com, Jason Momoa unveiled that the Justice League movie would be coming initial and that is what they had been planning for, and he failed to know if the solo Aquaman movie would appear before or right after Justice League. He believed it may be the origin, exactly where Aquaman came from. Warner Bros. announced Aquaman as a part of the DC Extended Universe, with Jason Momoa starring. In December 2014, it was revealed that Momoa experienced signed a four-image deal with the studio and DC, and he needed Zack Snyder to immediate the solo Aquaman movie. On January thirteen, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Amber Read entered negotiations to enjoy the feminine guide function of Mera, Aquaman's really like desire her casting was confirmed two months later on.

Aquaman Plot

From Warner Bros. Photographs and director James Wan will come an motion-packed experience that spans the extensive, visually spectacular underwater globe of the seven seas, Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa in the title role. The film reveals the origin story of 50 %-human, fifty percent-Atlantean Arthur Curry and takes him on the journey of his lifetime—one that will not only power him to confront who he really is, but to discover if he is worthy of who he was born to be…a king. If you want to watch free of charge Aquaman 2018 film, you should use that url - https://marvelvsdc.faith/wiki/Aquaman, just click on it an take pleasure in movie evening.In April 2016, Willem Dafoe was cast in an undisclosed position, later on exposed to be Nuidis Vulko. On December twelve, 2016 it was confirmed that Patrick Wilson will play the villainous Ocean Grasp, the half-brother of Aquaman. On January 31, 2017, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was included to the cast as the villain, Black Manta. That same working day, the press described that Nicole Kidman had entered talks to engage in Queen Atlanna. Two months later, Kidman verified her participation in the movie. By February 2017, New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison entered talks to perform Thomas Curry, Aquaman's human father. On April twelve, Dolph Lundgren was solid to enjoy Nereus, king of Xebel. Ludi Lin was solid in the movie on Could 15, 2017. Nearly two months later on, Michael Beach, who voiced Satan Ray, a character loosely based mostly on Black Manta in Justice League Limitless, was forged as Black Manta's father. In Oct 2017, Graham McTavish unveiled that he has a position in the movie. In April 2018, Randall Park was forged as Dr. Stephen Shin. In July, Djimon Hounsou, Natalia Safran and Sophia Forrest ended up solid as the Fisherman King, Fisherman Queen and the Fisherman Princess. In November 2018, it was uncovered that Julie Andrews has a voice position in the film.

Filming

Principal images started in Australia on Might two, 2017, under the working title Ahab. A vast majority of the film was shot at Village Roadshow Studios in Gold Coastline, Queensland with creation also held in Newfoundland, Canada, as properly as Sicily and Morocco. Among May and August 2017, creation also took place on area all around a amount of areas of the Australian Gold Coastline such as Principal Seashore, Coomera, Southport and Amity Stage in North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, as well as Hastings Position in New South Wales. On filming underwater sequences, Wan mentioned that "the underwater entire world is tremendous difficult" and "it's not an simple shoot". On August eleven, 2017, filming began on the Arthur Curry Lighthouse established at Hastings Level and finished afterwards that month. In September, in the course of an job interview with Kiss Radio, actor Ludi Lin explained Wan's vision for the movie as 'Star Wars underwater'. That exact same thirty day period, filming took spot in Newfoundland and Labrador. Willem Dafoe concluded up his part by late September. On October thirteen, James Wan declared that Patrick Wilson wrapped on the film. Filming on location took spot in the deserts of Morocco by mid-October, which incorporated the towns of Merzouga and Erfoud. Principal photography wrapped on October 21, 2017.

Tunes

On March seven, 2018, Rupert Gregson-Williams was announced as the composer for Aquaman. Gregson-Williams beforehand wrote the rating for Wonder Lady, the fourth film in the DC Prolonged Universe. The soundtrack will be released by WaterTower Music on December fourteen, 2018.[69][70] The album will attribute an original song by American musician Skylar Gray entitled Every thing I Need to have, prepared by Gray and Elliott Taylor.

Release

Aquaman experienced its planet premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London on November 26, 2018. It is scheduled to be introduced in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX and IMAX 3D on December 21, 2018. It was earlier established for July 27, 2018, and then moved to Oct five, 2018, before settling on its December launch date. Internationally, the film will be unveiled in China on December seven, 2018, in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2018, and in Brazil and Russia on December thirteen, 2018. On November 19, 2018, Atom Tickets was declared that Amazon Primary users in the United States would have early entry to tickets for a December 15 screening of the film at pick Regal, National Amusements, ArcLight Cinemas, and AMC theaters.

[skepticaloccultist]

The Confederacy of the Green Door

There is a door in the lower basement of a London bookshop that I frequent that has long perplexed any of the handful of astute observers who linger in the musty depths of that bibliographic cavern.

The bookshop itself is of the typical central London lot, haphazard bare wooden shelves cover all of the walls of the tiny cramped rooms. Each room leading onward into another, a maze of gravity defying structures burdened with far more than their fare share of aged paper. Tiled floors and low ceilings that creak with the footfalls of customers above who have yet to dare the half curved illformed lump of twisted wood that calls itself a staircase.

Such a descent, though not for the temeritous, is rewarded with considerable treasures, should a sprained ankle not inhibit the would be book hunter.

It is in these depths that I can often be found on those rare occasions that I venture out into the world. The triangle of London with Bloomsbury, Soho, and Leicester Square as its corners is the circumference of my interests in the world of humanity, excursions to the British Library notwithstanding.

Yet my frequency in this subterranean space has not yet solved the question of the door. For set at the very bottom of the last room, beyond rows of shelves bowed under the weight of sci-fi and discount volumes, there is a door.

The door is an aged emerald green, of a wooden type typical of the early 20th century, its paint layered with many years of re-coating though fading in areas to a patina. It fits in its frame at a slight angle, where either the door or the frame has shifted in the many years it has stood. It has a brass handle of the type that matches its rectangular escutcheon, a pattern around its edges worn from many years of use. The handle shines just slightly under the dim basement light.

Once, some years ago, in the first year or so of frequenting the bookshop, I witnessed a gentleman emerge from the door. It was a swift action, simply appearing and closing the door behind himself, turning and locking the door with a key. I first assumed it was the loo, but then the gentleman's appearance seemed out of the ordinary. A well cut suit of wool, a book tucked under his arm. He lingered for just a few moments before he turned and wend his way to the treacherous staircase and I could hear his footfall as he bee-lined for the shop door.

I stared at the door, wondering of what lie behind it. Yet when I inquired with the young girl who works behind the counter I was told that it was a storage closet and nothing more. I clarified where the door was, pointing to the spot on the shop's floor above where the door is in the layout of the space. It was then that I realized the door faced toward the high street in front of the shop. If what lie behind the door was more than a meter at most deep it would be under the street itself.

This perplexing event of the man leaving the storage closet would be repeated just over a year later. Again I was on my knees in that last room, digging through boxes of unsorted books, and behind me I heard the door open and close. This time an older man with a tweed jacket was standing there, having locked the door behind himself already, I caught him putting the key in his pocket and saw that it was of a brass colour.

As the tweed jacketed man made for the stairs I turned to a fellow customer who was standing nearby perusing the natural history selection and asked if he had "seen that?" To which he replied that he had no idea where the gentleman had come from as he himself had been there an hour. He then laughed in that uncomfortable British way that secretly pleads that the subject be changed and never, ever thought of, let alone spoken of, again.

The thing about this bookshop is that it has an incredible amount of volumes that seem to center around an endless supply of a single collector's habits. Either through years of their own customers dying and reselling their estate collections or of some more obscure modern source the bookstore is always able to cough up a copy of some G.K. Chesterton you have never yet read, perhaps and essay on Faust, or a consideration of anarchist societies. As well P.G. Wodehouse, William Sharp (Fiona MacLeod), rare sci-fi first editions by Clifford Simak, Ursula Le Guin, Theodore Sturgeon, and more obscure authors are tucked continually onto the shelves. A Richard Jefferies, T.H White and the occasional more occultish volume might be misplaced in the poetry section for a tenth of its actual value. As if the ghost of A.H. Mayhew still lingers just around the next corner.

As one would then imagine it is a place for the most insular hermits and bookish recluse to be found. Ill kept academics, sharp suited magicians, and the gamut of motley eccentrics find themselves in familiar territory.

On the third occasion I happened to see something all the more surreal. It was a kind of winter evening that is rare in London, bitter cold and windy. The basement was, on the other hand, cozy from the perspective below street level. I had just happened onto some volume that excited me in the way that they sometimes do. A quickening of the pulse as you realize what it is you've just pulled off of the shelf. A quick scan of the title page and dates and a flip back to the price; checked twice to make sure you aren't imagining things.

As I was catching my breath over some obscure volume I noticed a woman walk by behind me. She had the air of someone who didn't frequent bookshop basements often, but her step was rather confident that it knew where it was headed. She walked right up to the door without hesitation, and as it took me several seconds to shift focus from the glee of the book to the event unfolding, in a flash she open the door and closed it behind her as she stepped beyond its threshold. I caught just a glimpse of brick or stone wall behind her and nothing more, and the door clicked locked from the other side.

As I paid that day I inquired again about the green door at the end of the rooms, this time to the older woman who seems to be the shops manager. She repeated that it was a storage room and added that they had lost the key to it years ago.

There are a handful of other instances of my seeing people come out of the door and once a gentleman just disappearing behind the closing door when I turned the basement corner. And while each of these seems to happen at precisely the moment I am otherwise distracted I have spent the remainder of several of these afternoons dwelling on some mentally re enacted plan of action where I intercede and demand to know what is the story of the green door.

Alas each of these visions of bravado are stultified by each successive instance of the door. I have on two occasions had short and awkward conversations with regular customers I see now and again in the shop. Like myself though, these are not people accustom to social exchanges beyond the niceties of British colloquy. Never the less I sense in each who understood my inquiry a hesitation to speak of what they themselves know.

The green door thus remains a mystery, and while the events of this short essay may be overly condensed, giving the impression that movement to and from the door is common, please understand that can not be further from the case. For in my several hundreds of visits to the shop over the decade past only 5 or 6 of these have I experience the door enigma.

Yet the friction polished handle of so dusty a green door begs the question of its past, its present and its passage. What lies on the other side may only reveal itself to those who hold the door's key. Whomever that confederacy may be.

[breakingmllc]

Bear Oh Look It's Beer O'clock Vintage Retro

Hello customer service are you there I spent a Bear Oh Look It's Beer O'clock Vintage Retro lot of money on make up and beauty products and instead received diapers and baby wipes in the mail i’ve waited hours on the phone and i’ve sent multiple emails to you I sent a facebook message this morning and no response disappointing. Show thakoon nyc aw15 lead diane kendal for nars cosmetics look inspired by the northern lights thakoon wanted the girls to look beautiful keeping the ideal of lights and reflection. So this is going to be a bit long but bear with me I had what I believe to be a pointless and incredibly frustrating experience with the assistant manager jamie at your auburn hills great lakes crossing location today I have been coming here for three years I frequent your orlando san marcos and new jersey locations as well at least once a year when we stop we usually spend 5 to 10 thousand dollars on your products the system is simple I go in park in a corner and bring bins to my corner sort them bag them move them to the front register and repeat today I brought a personal duffel bag as it holds about 8 to 12 of your bags worth of stuff I get told that i’m not allowed to use it because it’s policy not a big deal at all I say okay i’ll do that for the rest rather than rebag all of this i’ll just go up in line and pay for it and it can sit behind the counter seems pretty reasonable to me nope I got obstructed suggested that I might be stealing something and not allowed to pass stating if I don’t want to follow the system I can leave he then takes my entire duffel dumps it onto the floor and then rebags it into victoria secret bags then moves it to the front counter so it can be rang in I thought this was a little odd but hey he was doing all the work rebagging it so whatever i’m like dude i’m going to be spending about 8k today all I want to do is come in spend some money get out without any drama what’s the problem whoevers in charge should be thrilled with a sale like this we’re spending 8k keep in mind that I told him that I would do what he wanted and it wasnt’ a big deal and the response was to the effect of stop being lippy and just listen I told him what do you want from me I just agreed with you and said I would use your bags i’m not being lippy at all I know this because I said okay dude not a problem i’ll use your bags his response was maybe if you get to buy it i’m like what are you suggesting that an 8 000 order is something you guys don’t want he’s like yeah if you buy it i’m like dude we are spending 8k today why would I bag up a bunch of stuff and spend 2 3 hours picking our your fabulous product to not buy it anyway so I had 4 credit cards one card had 2 000 one had 3500 one had 2000 and one had 1000 because I am buying for multiple people I had 4 different cards all in my name I wanted one receipt for each card not a big deal to me right wrong again he cited some policy and said if the order is more than 750 items that they aren’t allowed to ring in under 750 items on any one receipt id like to point out that that amount is higher than your employees said they could take as a cash payment I asked him to please show me that I would understand better if I could just read it he was willing to do so he brought out the policy book and to my surprise what it actually said was words to the afffect of cash payments cannot be split up or over 750 items I forget the second half my immediate reply was so what’s the big deal im using credit not cash he snatched the policy book away from me at that point and said you know what you can just listen to me or I don’t have to let you buy anything it’s up to my discretion I then called your orlando outlet and your new jersey outlet and talked to the store managers and cited your policy I was given I asked them to confirm if that was accurate and both said if it was a policy it was news to them I then asked if they would let me buy my order using 4 cards and 4 receipts the woman at orlando said oh my gosh yes we do that every single day I asked if I went to her store if I would have any trouble with this in the future and was told no then she said you can always come down here if you’re in the area and i’ll be happy to take your order after that phone call I tried again here’s the video of that attempt I said listen I have 4 credit cards your register girl said you told her she can’t ring up an order under 750 items that’s 3500 if it’s 5 items not all of my cards have that much I have done multiple receipts every time I came here heck I can even supply them to show it he tells me that because I am order so many items that I can’t have less tan 750 items per receipt so I point around to everyone else and ask what about everyone else you aren’t forcing them to spend a minimum of 750 items what about the final charge i’ll have 750 items for two tickets but the leftover isn’t going to be 750 items you’re not going to let me buy them he shrugged his shoulders to say no at this point I haven’t yelled ive been a bit snarky and sarcastic because I know he’s just giving me a hard time two people ring in our order almost every time I am up there and we were there 3 times in the last 6 months spent a bunch each time so at 730 8pm or so we are done shopping assuming that two people could ring us up ended up being a fantasy he forced one employee only to ring us up later on he comes up when its now close to 9pm and says hey you mind if we ring you up on both registers I chuckle and say no I don’t but you do you don’t want to be breaking that 750 rule do you he glared at me and then sent the employee away and walked off after blinking a few times I laugh because after telling me over and over he couldn’t do it he just got caught trying to do what should have been done to begin with a short while later after 9 I find out that everyone is standing uip front except for the one girl and another associate because none of the rest of them are allowed to help her ring us up the only two people left in the store with about 700 more items to be rang in if that’s not enough since it was a holidy all of these employees are apparently being paid overtime to stand around and wait at a bit after 10 all but two girls leave and one girl is waiting to count cash while the other girl sits and keeps ringing stuff in we apologize profusely we expected two employees to ring us up like always and timed our visit to be out around 9 if this had happened instead of having one literally stand there and watch her for 1 hour and 47 minutes after close we would have all been out on time and no overtime or extra hours spent so finally at 10 47 pm our orders are done we thank the lovely girl lauren and jasmine who got stuck staying 2 hours past close because a manager made up some random policy and had to double down when I pointed out he really needed to follow that 750 rule when he was going to toss another girl on the register if this is policy fine it doesn’t seem to be no manager at your other outlets knew what he was talking about the orlando one insisted that the only restrictions are on cash payments and verified I was paying cash or credit it’s a pretty humiliating experience to get hassled trying to buy panties and bras by someone who’s on some type of power trip the only thing I said sideways to him was that I flat out didn’t believe his policy and that credit absolutely is not the same as cash I didnt call him any names scream at him or did anything to disrupt the store beyond what you see in the videos if this is not policy i’d like an apology from that manager in person or over the phone admitting he was mistaken I would hope that the next time I go there I am not hassled but if not I guess there’s always orlando or new jersey who seem to be quite friendly I also want to give recognition to jasmine and lauren lauren is the poor soul who got stuck ringing everything in alone because of the manager’s silly rule and not allowing anyone to help because it would be in violation of the 750 item rule jasmine was the cash counter who had to wait until we were out of the store to count cash even more interesting is that I had a former employee with me helping me buy and she said she never heard of this policy either but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t added since she left she was just as confused because the manager spent over 30 minutes trying to explain and defend this when that time certainly would have been more efficiently spent doing productive things instead of hassling someone who literally sits in a corner and speaks to no one while sorting through your products one bin at a time id love a call back about this or to find out what exactly is going on ive never been hassled like this before and it was a little frustrating and very trying to keep my cool joe rossetti alexandria gunn

Source: Bear Oh Look It's Beer O'clock Vintage Retro

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Workplace Restoration, Fit Out & Office Refurbishment Across East Anglia.

Office Refurbishment Manchester & North West.

Content

Exactly How The Property Improvement As Well As Repair Solutions In London Job.

Rj Refurbishment Providers.

Begin Your Task.

Little Orangery Conservatories And Also Glass Conservatories.

Freshly Developed Houses.

We additionally give high-grade joinery and also woodworking deal with a broad option of paint alternatives that instantaneously change your property. Yearly, the Government release numbers on the promptness of services in paying their vendors. Having submitted numbers for 2019/2020, Novus rates among the quickest to pay provider invoices in the sector.

We effectively collaborate with other trades that might be servicing your task to ensure it is completed within your specified task budget plan and also duration. Elites Builders London has the relevant expertise to effectively offer fantastically reliable refurbishment solutions for your building. At this phase, our refurb developers lay out points to consider over a number of meetings making use of tools which may consist of real estate quality indications and design quality indications. Relying on the demands of the refurbishment job, a strategy is made outlining what requires to be done. We cover all aspects of roof covering such as lead roof, floor tile roofing, level roofing for new roofing installment or general roofing upkeep.

How long does it take to build a house from the ground up?

The 2014 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau shows that the average completion time of a single-family house is around 7 months, which usually includes around 25 days from authorization to start and another 6 months to finish the construction.

Just How The Building Restoration And Also Repair Services In London Work.

Repairs Reduced Wood This job involved two 2 floor extensions as well as a complete refurbishment of the existing building with brand-new hardwood home windows throughout as well as underfloor home heating to all areas of the ground floor. Any service staff member knows just how important it is for an office to have correct decoration.

Because of that, our office refurbishment solution takes your precise needs into factor to consider. Revive your workplace with our office refurbishment solution. We know how crucial your workplace is which having an efficient work area will certainly improve performance.

Adhering to the outbreak of the COVID-19virus, services are taking it as a possibility to recondition their existingoffice spaces. We do not believe in blindly following the current market fads. Instead, we're concentrated on producing truly unique working environments to support any kind of business.

Are Barratt Homes any good?

Barratt is a very commercialised builder. They don't build homes to give you comfort but more of how many houses they can squeeze in given space. I'm living in Barrats home the quality of the build is not 5 star but not 1 star either. In very first year had many snags which were fixed by them nothing major though.

At Elite Builders London, our team of fully insured as well as extremely qualified roofing professionals have greater than 40 years of experience in the roof sector. We are one of the most trusted and specialist roof company in London.

Rj Repair Solutions.

I am considering a few of their inventory residences in a specific area, yet they do seem to be selling somewhat quickly.

Choosing an on-line degree enables you to maintain your schedule and intelligently make use of leisure time for on the internet training courses, talks, as well as projects.

An on the internet Bachelor's or Master's in Building and construction Administration is optimal for students that have various other commitments, like a permanent job, or aren't happy to move to a different country for their research studies.

If we check out the modern-day globe, most of the convenience that we delight in comes from the capacity to reshape the environment in ways that are valuable to us.

You still require to fulfill due dates and pass all your exams, so discipline as well as a wonderful schedule application are your best friends.

Out of these cookies, the cookies that are classified as required are kept on your browser as they are vital for the working of standard functionalities of the internet site.

While one can argue that we may have gone as well far, there's no refuting that our residences, bridges, tunnels, and other framework facilities have actually made life much better for a huge number of individuals.

Begin Your Job.

The post likewise showed the typical percentage of invoices not paid to the terms originally laid out is 28 percent, compared to 9% this year for Novus. The value of quick settlements goes almost without stating in the existing environment. The backdrop of Covid-19 Late payment of invoices is a problem for a lot of providers of items as well as services in any kind of sector, and also in a challenging economic climate, the issue is only increased. Subsequently, it will probably come as no surprise that late repayments and bad debts are the main sources of bankruptcy in construction firms, contributing practically a quarter of all bankruptcies. Openly readily available info For additional information concerning typical repayment times, go to the Government website, particularly the "Check when huge organizations pay their providers" web page.

All of our repair designs are developed around your employees and the certain requirements of your company. That suggests that you'll never ever need to pay, or give up important space, for attributes that you'll never utilize and never need. Despite your requirements, we make sure we can assist you thus numerous before. We're pleased to be a specialist office refurbishment firm in Nottingham, Birmingham, Leicester and also many more. At aci ™, we know how essential your office is which having an efficient work area will certainly boost efficiency.

Tiny Orangery Conservatories As Well As Glass Conservatories.

Not only are they passionate regarding tackling new jobs, they are likewise greatly happy with the standard of job that they produce. The outcome is an excellent quality finish and also an extremely pleased client. Prymo Residential is devoted to supplying you the most effective top quality services at residential costs, regardless of exactly how big the job. Agincourt Specialists have carried out a number of building projects on our behalf. They have actually paid attention very carefully to what we desired and afterwards revealed an exceptional high quality to deal with their very own effort as well as deliver an ended up work at a practical expense.

With our experience, our team believe we can offer the most effective refurbishment solution to our customers by adhering to best practice and also rigorous safety and security guidelines. For us at Elite Builders London, the objective is simple-- supply refurbishment tasks of the highest possible basic feasible, and also we strive to never ever dissatisfy. Whether Trusted-Builders.co.uk crm features is just fixing up your cooking area or a major house repair, we are dedicated to providing to you top quality workmanship every time. Great communication makes sure the progression of the tasks we take care of is seamless.

Allow The Sunlight In! Whatever You Would Like To Know Concerning Sunrooms

The restoration professional group will certainly bring all necessary devices as well as tools to complete your solution. From bungalow extension builders of numerous sizes to a variety of manual and also power tools, the specialists are fully gotten ready to manage your residential property's overhaul. With greater than one decade of experience, Elite Builders can be trusted to supply first-rate service to both commercial and also domestic customers around London.

You'll gain from a devoted task manager, that will get on hand to manage your house renovations and also refurbishments right through to completion. MFW have actually dealt with my cooking area expansion and also bathroom improvement task throughout the summer of 2019. Matt as well as Spence have revealed the highest level of professionalism and reliability throughout the project.

We can constantly supply a checklist of pleased consumers that, before beginning work, to be chosen randomly to confirm the quality of our solutions. Tiling can be a challenging and lengthy job to get right, which is why lots of people pick to employ the experts that can finish the work with a wonderful finish in dual double-quick time. At Smart Solutions 4 All, our tiling and paving team are second to none-- quick, reliable as well as with the highest possible requirements, they can finish your tilling task in no time at all, with the minimum of mess and hassle.

How many houses does metricon build a year?

Metricon Homes started construction of 2,821 dwellings in the last financial year, all of which were detached houses in Victoria, NSW, Queensland or South Australia. The company was followed by Alcock/Brown-Neaves Group, starting construction on 2,736 dwellings in WA and Victoria.

Average time required to pay billings This is the typical elapsed time taken for an organization in invoice of items or solutions to pay the vendor. Released on 29th July 2020, Novus accomplished a typical payment time of 33 days versus all of its invoices; a number that puts the building contractor inside the top 3 organisations of all its major rivals. On top of that, this eclipses the "43 day average" for specialists to pay their providers Building and construction News reported in 2019.

From right here you can check the ordinary time it considers a big company to pay its providers and also the proportion of repayments that it doesn't pay promptly. Our team of experts will certainly function very closely with you to develop, strategy and execute your structure refurbishments. In any kind of project, Novus goal to deliver your structure repairs within spending plan and also always to the agreed timescales. Delivering remarkable building refurbishment solutions that will sustain your long-lasting home financial investment strategies.

Without a good format and also the ideal kind of furnishings, it can be extremely hard for the employees to comfortably execute their task. Not to mention the fact that the way your workplace looks is a big part of your company's photo, so it is necessary to ensure that you make a good, enduring impact on any type of customers that could come and also visit. We are able to offer a full washroom or shower room repair service. In needed we can supply and also mount the entire collection and all facets of the pipes, lighting, tiling, flooring, painting and also designing. Our plumbing and heating solutions include substitute boiler and central heating installments, radiators as well as the associated pipework.

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Carpetshire Leicester: Your Premier Destination for Quality Supply-Only Floors in Leicester

Discover the ultimate flooring solution for your trade projects with Carpetshire Leicester, the leading choice for supply-only floors in Leicester. As a trusted source for flooring materials, Carpetshire Ltd sets itself apart with a commitment to professionalism, reliability, and unbeatable prices. Choose from a vast selection of high-quality flooring options, including luxurious carpet tiles, durable laminate flooring, elegant wood floors, and stylish luxury vinyl flooring (LVT). Carpetshire Ltd collaborates with renowned manufacturers such as Moduleo, Ted Todd, Amtico, Allora, Lifestyle, and more, ensuring a wide range of choices to suit every project.